Holy Angel, Batman!
by Blasphemous Gay Sex
Summary: "Dean isn't the only one who is batman, Cas has an arch-nemesis and Sam should have realised that it was an inevitably consequence of becoming a lawyer."
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Holy Angel, Batman!  
><strong>Fandom: <strong>Supernatural.

**Pairing: **Dean/Castiel of course.  
><strong>Rating:<strong> PG-13.  
><strong>Warnings: <strong>Swearing. Being evil to lawyers? Violence. Graphic smut in later chapters.  
><strong>Spoilers: <strong>Vague spoilers up to season 6 but to be honest this is AU so you're safe.  
><strong>Word Count:<strong> 2,605  
><strong>Summary: <strong>_"Dean isn't the only one who is batman, Cas has an arch-nemesis and Sam should have realised that it was an inevitably consequence of becoming a lawyer."_

**A/N: **This is written for my friend Dynetyven for her bday yesterday. She wanted evil!Sammy with possible Dean/Cas so typically I wrote neither of them and came up with this. I never usually write fanfic so this isn't very good. More to be written later if it is okay.

Dean doesn't know what brought him to Lawrence, Kansas. There is no real reason only that it is better than nowhere and it isn't like he has anywhere to be in a long time. He booked into a motel, nicer than the ones that he is used only because there are no obvious stains on the sheets. He throws his duffle down onto the bed and then is at a loss of what he should do.

It is gone eleven o'clock in the evening but he isn't close to tired, not that he finds sleep much of a comfort ever since… There have been signs of demonic activity in the area, well there have been signs of demonic activity in every area but it seems to be concentrated around Kansas and more particularly in Lawrence and Dean wants to find out why.

He decides to head to a local diner. The TV in the motel room is crap and even though the twenty-four hour places are usually the worse, it is better than being on his own. He won't admit it consciously but even spending time with drunk students and bored waitresses is better than facing another room where he has ordered two queen beds for no reason at all.

He is too wrapped up in his own head, thinking about Dad and thinking about Sammy to see the thing in the sky. It isn't something that would happen outside of comic books and movies based on the comic books but there is a signal light in the sky. A huge circle of light with a pair of wings cast into it creating a silhouette. Dean is oblivious to all of this as he enters into the diner.

As he expected, there are a group of rowdy drunk people sat in one corner. One of the boys keeps beckoning an exhausted looking waitress for stupid tasks that the rest find hilarious. Dean wants to go over to them and tell them to lay off but he doesn't really want to cause a scene and the problem with drunks is that they can easily become nasty. Dean just sits in the furthest corner of the room and waits for the waitress to be finished with those douches and take his order. His is too busy studying the menu to notice a black-haired man in a tan trench coat come into the room.

The waitress is carrying a bottle of ketchup, the third for their table when one of the girls stands up quickly. She is wearing next to nothing and it isn't exactly warm in the diner but she doesn't seem to mind. It isn't her lack of clothes that has got Dean's attention, it is the long knife in her hands. It's already stained with blood, dried into the blade. The waitress doesn't see it until it is too late.

Then everything happens to quickly. The girl grabs the waitress roughly by the throat and mutters something that Dean cannot hear from across the other side of the room. The waitress kicks and screams but she is about sixty-five and short and has nothing on the younger woman. Dean is on his feet in seconds. He has a gun, of course, and several knives hidden on his person. These aren't safe times and no one goes around without packing anymore. Dean isn't sure what to do though. He's never shot a human that wasn't possessed by a demon. He doesn't have to worry about that for very long as the girl's eyes flash black and then he knows what he has to do, even if he is ridiculously outnumbered. He couldn't stand by and watch an innocent woman being used like that. He would rather go to hell again than do that.

He draws his gun. It won't work on the demons that is for sure but perhaps piss them off. He hasn't got any Holy Water and he has left his exorcism book in the motel. He is stupidly unprepared. There are about twenty of them and one of him. This fight isn't going to go into his favour. Nevertheless, he has never been accused of thinking these things through so of course he goes rushing in without a thought or a care to the fact that he is about to be beaten into a pulp.

Only that isn't exactly how things go. Before he has chance to get even close to the woman, they are on him. He is surrounded. He wouldn't be able to get through to the waitress without killing at least six male demons, all who look like line backers. They aren't even the dangerous ones. The waitress is seconds from becoming an ex-waitress and Dean has no choice but to shoot the sons of bitches.

He manages to unload a full round into them but they just laugh at him. He is royally screwed. His only been out of hell two months, he isn't ready to face that ordeal all over again but it seems like that is the way that it is going. One of the demons grab hold of him and throw him against the wall. He hits it with enough force to make a sizeable dent and he is losing consciousness quickly. He last image that he has before everything goes black is the trench coat.

He wakes sometime later. It is impossible to tell whether or not it is night or day because as far as he can tell, there are no clocks around him and there are no windows either. The room is unlike any other then he has ever been in. It looks like the sort of thing he would expected to see inside Buckingham Palace not somewhere in Kansas. Everything look expensive and so breakable. Old paintings of battle scenes have been hung on the wall and Dean suspects that if he knew anything about art, then he would be drooling all over it. He doesn't and to him it is just a bunch of weird paintings.

He is lying, not on a bed but a sort of chez lounge which makes him feel immediately ridiculous. It is gold and covered with red satin. Dean would be off it in a second if this isn't just the most comfortable he has felt in his entire life. He doesn't hurt like he expected to and he thinks that he feels really rested, like he managed to sleep more than four hours. It is strange. It would be so much better if he knew where he was.

"Hello Dean," a deep gravelly voice says. Dean immediately sits up sensing a trap. He grabs his knife, which he is surprised hasn't been taken from him and turns to face the person there. Dean is expecting something impressive, a scary looking dude with a large gun, a demon with a grudge, anything other than what is actually in front of him. He is shorter than Dean with messy black hair and clear blue eyes and a bloody trench coat. He looks as scary as a four year old girl. Well, then again, he has some bad experiences with demon-possessed girls so that isn't saying much.

"Who are you?"

"I am the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition," the man replied, in a deep proclaiming tone. Dean is confused. He has been trying for months to work out what pulled him out of the pit but without any help, it had been dead end after dead end and he hadn't been hoping that he would ever discover the truth. He had just been glad that it hadn't turned around and bit him on the ass so far. Now he is faced with demon that had enough juice to pull him out of the pit. He knows he should be grateful but survival instinct kicks in first.

"Thanks for that," he mutters as he plunges the knife into the man's chest. The man looks at the knife in a mixture of confusion and triumph. It doesn't hurt him but then it is only a normal knife, it wouldn't hurt most demons. The man just pulls it out and drops it, blood-coated to the floor. It lands between them with a clang. Dean could easily pick it up and try again. The wound however seems to have healed completely which is fast even for a powerful bastard. It's not a demon. Dean would already be dead if it was. "Who are you?" Dean asks.

"Castiel."

"I mean what are you?"

"I'm an angel of the Lord," the man replies and yeah right is what Dean thinks.

"Get out of here, there is no such thing."

"This is your problem, Dean, you have no faith," the man replies. The lights flicker in the room and lowered then the wall behind the man filled with the shadows of a great pair of wings. Dean isn't just about to believe that the creature is an angel just because it says it is one. The wings could be an illusion. Demons play tricks and lie all of the time. If the man – Castiel – whatever isn't going to tell him what he is, then Dean will just have to find out for himself.

"What were you doing at the diner?" Dean asks. He doesn't remember much apart from having the crap beating out of him. The so-called angel could have been fighting against him.

"I had been summoned there. The city often calls me when there are demon problems. They send a light into the sky and I know that I am needed. This was the work of my arch-nemesis," Castiel explains and there are so many things wrong with that sentence that Dean bursts out laughing.

"What are you Batman?" Dean asks as he tries to catch his breath.

"I do not understand that reference," Castiel replies looking at Dean confused. "I have wings but I do not take the form of a bat. I do not understand how that would be useful when fighting demons." Castiel says it with such a straight face that Dean ends up just laughing more.

"He doesn't turn into a bat, he's… you know what, never mind," Dean replies. Dean looks around him and realises he doesn't know where the hell he is. He repeats the question to Castiel.

"This is my home on Earth. It is necessary to have a place on this realm from which I can work from when it is needed," Castiel answers. Dean looks at the place once more and wonders why anyone would want to live in a room like this. It is the sort of place that belongs in museums. "It reminds me of heaven," Castiel adds without being prompted.

"So who is this nemesis of yours?"

"I believe you know who he is." Castiel pauses. Dean just stares at him waiting impatiently. "He is your brother, Samuel Winchester."

Dean doesn't think. He just punches Castiel in the face. He hasn't heard from his brother since he left the family business for Stanford all those years ago. He hadn't heard from Sam when their dad died. He hadn't heard from Sam when had called all those times in his last months before going to hell. His brother is MIA. He isn't about to listen to some supposed angel, possible demon tell him that he is fighting against him.

Only punching Castiel is like punching a brick wall and Dean breaks two of his fingers. Castiel mutters apologises before healing the broken digits. Arsehole. No person is that nice. Dean only wishes he has Holy Water. The angel's hand is still on his even after the healing is done. He doesn't know what that means.

"Your brother has been leading the armies of hell against Heaven for some time now. I had expected that it must have come to your attention by now," Castiel explains like Dean is the exceptionally slow child in the class and yeah, maybe Dean is still hung up on the idea that Castiel has a bat signal and he thought his life couldn't get more strange.

"He is my brother, he wouldn't do that!" Dean protested. He had raised Sam himself. Sam was Mr Sensitivity. He was all about caring, hugs and touchy feely moments that made Dean's skin crawl. Sam wouldn't kill spiders when he was a little boy because he believed that they didn't go anything wrong and so they shouldn't be punished. Dean shakes his head.

"He isn't your brother anymore. He's a lawyer," Castiel rebukes like it explains everything. Dean is just confused.

"He can still be a lawyer and my brother."

"No. You don't understand the nature of that profession. For a person to become a lawyer, they have to sell their soul."

"That's just one of those things people say," Dean scoffs.

"It is true. Lawyers are really heartless, soulless creatures." Castiel paused, truly thinking about what he is going to say next. "Your brother was the one that sent you to hell.

"Yeah dude, whatever," Dean remarks. This has just got too weird for him. He wants out. "See you later dude or you know, hopefully never." Dean heads for the door. Castiel doesn't even try to stop him. He just looks as he has throughout the conversation, like a dick.

"We will be seeing each other very soon," are the last words Dean says as he walks out.

He isn't followed as he walks through the corridors which are decorated just as the room had been. It is confusing to say the least as there are just door after door after door, all exactly the same. Dean isn't about to give up though and return to Castiel, if he could find him again, and ask for directions. Dean would rather having a meaningful conversation. He manages to get out finally.

It is bright outside and on the outskirts of Lawrence. From the outside, Dean can tell that it is one of those huge houses that cost millions that rich businessmen buy to show off. The grounds are huge and there is even a fountain. Well, there is no point of having a bat cave if it isn't impressive.

Dean returns back to the motel and truly contemplates what Castiel has told him and as of that he immediately turns on the magic fingers and watches Casa Erotica and tries to forget about the angel all together and his oddly comforting hands.

Dean is almost asleep again when he hears something in his room. He is drowsy even though it is still the middle of the day and for a second he cannot make sense of it but he would recognise that mop of brown hair anywhere and that ginormous body.

"Sam?" he asks confused. It's definitely Sam but how?

"Yeah Dean, it's me," Sam replies. It sounds like Sammy and it looks like him. Dean just grabs hold of him and pulls him into a hug.

"Why are you here Sammy? And where have you been?" Dean demands. He knows he shouldn't look this gift in the mouth but he needs some answers.

Sam pulls back. "I heard that you met Castiel," Sam starts. It is strange because Dean hasn't been back for more than a couple of hours, how did Sam find out so fast? "You know you shouldn't believe anything that he says."

"I know, Sammy," Dean replies and hugs his brother again. Totally in a manly way of course. What he doesn't see is his brother's eyes flicker completely black.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I don't know where this story is even going. It is writing itself!

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><p>Dean is glad that Sam was here. Really he is. However it is just a little bit weird that it happens to be right after Castiel showed up. Sam hadn't turned up on his doorstep for longer than he would like to think and now he makes time for a visit. Dean isn't stupid no matter what most people thought.<p>

After he has been released from his brother's death grip, and for a man who chose to spend his life behind a desk, he has gotten strong, he grabs two beers out of the motel fridge and gives one to his brother. Sam uncaps the bottle but doesn't take a sip.

"What is it with you and this Castiel then?" Dean asks, taking a large gulp of his own beer. He really needs it.

"I convicted his brother a while back. A whole bunch of wackos if you ask me. Planning to blow up a whole town just because there were a couple of demons in it," Sam explains in the cliffnote version that told Dean that Sam isn't giving him all the information.

"So you convicted his brother?" Dean leads, prodding for more information.

"Well, they said they were brothers. I mean, Uriel is this big black guy and you've seen Castiel," Sam embellishes. Dean thinks of Castiel, the nerdy guy in the trench coat. It is a hard stretch of the imagination to think that he could be related to a big black guy.

"Yeah," Dean replies. Then something occurs to him. "Uriel, that's an angel name right?" Dean had read Milton, well, at least used it as a leg for a bad motel chair. He had heard about Uriel.

"They all claim that they are angels, Dean," Sam answers with a worn out expression. "They are clearly not. I've been dealing with their cases for a while now. They burn out people's eyes. For kicks. Shatter windows. Create huge electric blackouts and that is just by showing up. It's like no other demon that we've ever come across. The cases keep going to court and most of the time, these guys mysterious disappear. Uriel is one of the few that we managed to convict."

Dean shakes his head. This is all news to him. He had been hunting all the time that Sam had been sitting in court and he had never come across anything like this before. "So you are saying that these guys are dangerous? Castiel didn't seem like the type."

"Dean," Sam puts on his serious "Dean you really are an idiot, just listen to me and believe me for once" voice. "They are unbelievable powerful. You don't want to get involved with them."

"Thanks Sammy for the advice but you know, I'm a big boy. I can look after myself." That just earns Dean a bitch face.

"Just call me if you hear anything from Castiel," Sam insists. He gives Dean a professional looking business card. "I have to go back to work. Call me later."

Sam is gone in a second, leaving Dean to wonder just what the hell is going on. He thought that his life couldn't get any weirder. He decides that for his sanity he isn't going to think any more about it. He finishes drinking his beer and thinks about settling in for a Doctor Sexy MD marathon. What he doesn't do is spend the night thinking about the shadows of the wings or how his brother might be wrong.

Nothing happens for the next couple of days. He tries to catch up with what has been going on around Lawrence but none of it seems to be adding up. Some people truly believe that there are angels and there are others, like Sam, that believe that they are just demons in a very clever disguise. All Dean knows from the last six months of newspaper coverage of them, is that they are all dicks and he doesn't want to be associated with any of them.

He thinks about washing his hands of the whole matter. The town is function before he arrives and it will continue after he leaves and he is sure that if there was anything catastrophic going on then Sam would have told him about it surely. For some reason, he just doesn't think that he should be chasing after the "angels". They aren't the bad guys around here.

On his fourth day, he gets a call from a phone he doesn't recognise. He picks up cautiously. These things never went well. He still remembers the call from his dad after he had died. Luckily, it isn't any sort of monster.

"Dean," his brother's voice starts. "What are you still doing in Lawrence?"

Dean might have been half-asleep and not functioning on all cylinders but he knows that isn't how brothers are supposed to react when they know that their big brothers are sticking around.

"I thought I would hang out," Dean replies. "Why do you want to get rid of me?"

"No, of course not," Sam replies in his "you are the most infuriating person alive" voice.

"So what's with the 'tude, dude?" Dean remarks. His playing it cool not letting Sam know that he is suspicious. Only he used to do it when he had caught Sam doing his homework in the middle of the night under his bedcovers like the big nerd that he was or rather is.

"Dean," Sam repeats in a "I am bored of your childishness and I wished you would grow up or at least get a sense of what is important (and perhaps needing a short name)" voice. "Important things are going to happen soon and I don't want you screwing them up." And wow, Dean is actually hurt. Perhaps it isn't unjustified because Dean has screwed up a lot for Sam in the past but putting it like that it makes Dean want to get the hell out of Dodge just on the principle of it. However there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

"Sam, I'm not twelve anymore and I am not going to put Nair in your shampoo before prom," Dean protests. He didn't actually do it before prom but Sam is really attached to his hair for some reason.

"Don't cause trouble," is the last thing that Sam says before he hangs up and perhaps that isn't the weirdest conversation that he has ever had with his brother.

"I think your brother maybe doing something suspicious," a voice says from behind him and Dean turns around and shit. Castiel is right there in all of his trench coated glory. Dean almost screamed like a little girl. It had be a close thing.

"No shit, Sherlock," Dean replies whilst trying to catch his breath because yeah, the man just appearing there, did scare him a little but then he has always been a hunter and is always on edge.

"We need to stop him," Castiel continues. He Is staying right close to Dean. Like right close in all sorts of weird ways. Dean's face is less than half an inch from his and it would be an alright place for the other man to be if he had an amazing rack. And great, now he has an image of Cas with a huge pair of boobs and he loves himself enough that he is never ever going to think about that again.

"Are you going to tell me what we have to stop him doing? Making cupcakes? Because this is making no sense to me," Dean asks. God, Castiel is close.

"He is planning to destroy the heavenly host," Castiel remarks and it makes no sense to Dean. Then again he still isn't on the side of believing that angels exist. A lobotomy is scheduled for the afternoon.

"When you want to tell me the truth give me a call," Dean snaps back. Castiel gives him one of those looks. Dean feels violated. It's like his got his hands in his brain or something.

"Dean, I am telling you the truth. Your brother has been our biggest threat for some time now and your assistance isn't being requested. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of hell. I can throw you back in." Castiel is close and intense and Dean's brain is malfunctioning because no one ever talks to him like that. And it's kinda hot in ways that Dean's brain is so not going to let him admit to right now.

Dean gulps and is about to come back with a clever reply which isn't "so's your face," honestly, when suddenly the "angel" is gone again and Dean is really pissed off but kinda glad that he can actually breathe again.

He's about to grab another beer because this day only gets better if he is drunk, when he hears this bang and then everything goes to shit. The room around him shakes and the ceiling starts to come in. He doesn't have time to think. Suddenly, there is this huge block falling from the ceiling and he should have been dead. It would have crushed him immediately but then there is something, a tan trench coat amongst it all.

Then from the dirt covered room he is back at Castiel's place. His ears are ringing and he is covered in dust and god knows what else but he has to be thankful that he is alive. The "angel" is there of course and Dean cannot help but think that this is the second time in less than a week that Castiel has saved his life, not including the time that he was pulled out of hell. Perhaps Castiel did deserve his title as angel after all.

"Do you understand now?" Castiel growled. He looked a mess but scarier than Dean had ever seen him. He looked almost ready to smite. Dean takes a step closer. It's like he doesn't care if he gets deep fried.

"Understand what?" Because yeah, he's been hit with the stupid stick and he is going back to hell but he doesn't understand what Castiel means.

"Your brother."

"What? He blew up my motel."

"Not exactly. He did not plant the bomb himself but it was those that he keeps alliance with," Castiel mutters. He looks edgy for a second and confused like just after saying it, he realised telling Dean his brother tried to kill him would not go down very well.

"No, you're wrong." Dean takes several steps back and wishes he could take steps right out of his life because this shit isn't real. His brother is just a lawyer. There is nothing going on. Really.

"Dean, I know this is difficult," Castiel starts and then Dean's fist connects with his face again. At least this time Dean doesn't break his hand but it really hurts. Castiel looks a little upset like he cannot believe that Dean tried to hit him. Again. Castiel moves away from Dean.

For a moment, Dean cannot see what he is doing but he rolls up his sleeves and cuts open his arm with a long blade. Dean is a little confused but then the angel is drawing in blood all over one of the walls. It is messy but Dean can make out a strange symbol. Something he doesn't recognise.

"This will keep you safe," Castiel murmurs. And yeah because blood magic always meant good thing. "Stay here," Castiel adds like Dean needs to be told like a disobedient dog. Then he disappears.

"Fuck," Dean says to no one at all. Like hell he is going to stay put like a little wife. He heads for the nearest door.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Short update but it's my second in two days :D Written for Jaess who isn't even online right now.

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><p>Sam's not exactly evil. He's got bored of those sort of labels for years now. Well, that is sort of the point of college really. He never thought though when he left that he would end up like this, talking to demons about placing a freaking bomb in his brother's motel. He didn't even know that demons used bombs. He thought that they would prefer more sophisticated methods of killing people. That doesn't really much anymore. A lot of things have changed. Sam knows he has.<p>

He thinks that if at fourteen years old, he was told that he would be responsible for killing his brother he would have done some serious ass kicking. Then he always thought that he was different and weird and part of him always knew that he would do anything that he could to be normal. To have that sort of normal life and have some freaking control over anything. He didn't realise how much he would have to give up.

Then in his defence, he had warned Dean about what was going on and if his brother is too stupid to get the message across and not skip town like he is supposed to do then it really isn't his fault. Dean always knew how to stick his nose into things that he shouldn't.

It is a very important time, he thinks as he grabs a fifth of whiskey, he couldn't afford to have any slip ups. The angels are getting increasingly annoying and he doesn't like how that Castiel managed to get his brother's trust. He only hopes that Dean bought his fake story about Uriel. That fucker had been hard to kill. Castiel would never even know that one of his own brothers was working for the other side the moment that he died. It was a shame that Uriel had a change of heart right near the end. He was a good ally. Only he didn't like it when people tried to take control of him.

"What do you want Crowley?" He asks in annoyance when he saw the demon walk or more like saunter into his rooms. The demon knows better but like most demons, he ignores any sort of rule put before him.

"Your brother is still alive," Crowley announces in that annoying British accent of his.

"What?" Sam asks then realises that it doesn't surprise him. "The bomb wasn't really that much of a brilliant idea."

"There was nothing wrong with that. It's that bugger of an angel that got in the way. Zapped your brother out of there, quick smart," Crowley explains. For a second, Sam can hear it. Perhaps the demon didn't want for Dean to die. Sam frowns in that brow crinkling way but he doesn't say anything. He will have to keep an eye on the demon from now on.

"Just make sure he dies," Sam insists. He thinks that if he still had a soul then it would have died with those worse but he feels nothing towards his brother anymore and he has no problems with issuing orders to demons for his death.

Crowley doesn't say anything but it is clear that he wants to. He just disappears and Sam wonders how long he is going to have to order the death of another traitor. He doesn't right then. He has some depositions to issue. He straightens his tie and picks up his briefcase.

Dean doesn't make it out of the house before Castiel is suddenly there. Again like the weird stalker angel that he is.

"Dean," he says in a gruff voice and God does Dean suddenly feel like a four year old with his hand caught in a cookie jar. He immediately wants to apologise and return the room. Insolence though is born into him more than obedience and he doesn't think that he would ever just follow Castiel's orders even if it turns out that he is an angel.

"Yeah, I know, stay in my room. I am a big boy, Cas," Dean remarks.

"Dean, I will tie you down if I have to," Castiel insists in that gruff voice and damn if that isn't a little bit suggestive because even though he is sure that Casitel meant it as a throwaway remark the way that he says it makes Dean's mind go to strange places that he is just too straight to be thinking.

"Kinky," Dean smirks approvingly because hell, he can't dig himself into a deeper hole.

"The demons are coming for you, Dean," Castiel grunts but his words are drowned out by the sounds of barking.

"Shit, hellhounds," Dean complains.

Dean isn't exactly a stranger to the hellhounds. He remembers them ripping him open. Sometimes he lies awake at night and he can still feel them chewing on his liver. They had dragged him into hell but it hadn't stopped there. He had seen the hellhounds during his time in hell. Sometimes just for kicks, they would let him free. He would run and run or what counted as running in hell. Sometimes for days or weeks, thinking that maybe, just maybe he would be able to find his way out. It was just a little hope but it would always die when he would hear the dogs. Sometimes it would be just one bark. Every hour or so. The dogs would even be close and he would try to get away. They would just get closer and closer until he wouldn't even try running anymore. He couldn't escape them and then they would eat him alive. Their claws and teeth devouring him and in hell they were hideous monsters. He shudders just to think about how dark they were. Looking at one was worse than anything he could ever feel. Like someone had carved out his heart. He just felt hollow. He couldn't go through that again.

"Dean, we have to go," Castiel snaps, forcing Dean into the present. The hellhounds are too close. Castiel looks worried. Everything is afraid of hellhounds even so called angels. "Dean, please."

But it is too late. The hellhounds are in the room with them and Dean can feel them even though he cannot see them anymore. Castiel starts muttering something Dean doesn't know. It isn't Latin and the dogs are whining in that way that they do when they are denied food.

Dean tracks their movements through the room. There are two of them. Dean can feel one come up behind him. One of Castiel ridiculously expensive tables gets thrown across the room and shatters against the wall. A vase shatters on the other side of the room as the second one comes closer to him. They are ignoring Castiel. They clearly have a hit on him. The one behind him barks and he jumps to noise and spins around. He doesn't even have a gun on him goddammit and he doubts that Castiel just has salt lying around. It isn't going to do him any good. So much for being pulled out of the line of danger. He doesn't want to go back to hell but he supposed if Castiel can pull him out once, he can do it again.

"You are not getting my friend," Castiel shouts at the nearest dog. The dog barks at Castiel and then jumps. Dean can only tell because one of the rugs on the floor suddenly rumples as the dog jumps and Dean hopes that it isn't aiming for Castiel's face because it is kinda good looking and those hellhounds have sharp claws. Dean doesn't want to watch but he is fascinated. Castiel doesn't even look scared anymore which means that he is an idiot. Then Dean realises, Castiel has his long blade in his hands and the dog falls dead, the blade briefly sparking like lightning, before it can even reach him. Castiel is looking unflappable like it is something that he does every day and Dean is impressed because he has never heard of anything that can take on a hellhound and actually win.

Castiel grips the blade tight in his hands and looks at the second hellhound that is still behind Dean. Neither of them do anything for a moment but Castiel has this intense and scary look in his eyes and Dean knows that he is going to win against this one too. The second hell hound doesn't move though and Castiel doesn't look like he is going to make the first move.

The air shifts just like it does when a demon or an angel, whatever, makes an entrance into the room. Dean cannot even see who it is but he can definitely feel it and it is just great because what does he want but another idiot coming to try and kill him.

"What do you think you are doing?" a voice demands. And wait a minute, is that guy British? A short man in a dark suit walks into the room with determination and he is just a little bit pissed. "Why did you have to kill her?" he asks with a wounded expression and goes to where the hellhound is lying on the floor. Or at least where they assume the hellhound is lying on the floor. There is a puddle of blood and it doesn't belong to him or Castiel. "Poor girl," the demon mutters and neither Dean and Castiel move to smite his ass because they are just a little stunned. The demon proceeds to pat thin air and looks rather sentimental and Dean almost feels sorry for the guy apart from the fact that it is a monster and it was going to kill him!

"You're a demon. Your hellhound was trying to kill us," Castiel replies. "I did what I had to do to insure Dean's safety."

"Well you nutheads, I am here to make sure Deano dies," Crowley states. He goes over to the other hellhound and pats her on the head and for a second Dean thinks that he is about to become puppy chum again. "But I like Lucy and I don't want you to blunderheads killing her."

"Who sent you to kill me?" Dean demands before the demon could disappear.

"Isn't that me to know and you to find out? Though I think you already know," the demon replied. He brushes down his coat and rubs absently minded on the freshly acquired hellhound blood on the shirt cuff.

Dean rolls his eyes. "What? Sammy?" He is seriously bored with people accusing his brother of being evil.

"Yep, though I wouldn't keep thinking your brother is all innocent. It'll be the death of you," the demon remarks. "I would keep my eyes open if I was you and start thinking about that river in Egypt." The just as quickly as he arrives, he and the hellhounds disappears.

Castiel stares at the place where the demon was. Dean looks at Castiel. "Well, that was thrilling," he mutters. If his life couldn't get any more complicated.


	4. Chapter 4

Dean doesn't know what fuck he is supposed to do. Castiel just disappeared after the demon. That had been four hours ago and Dean is tired and wants to know what the hell is going on. He doesn't even has his cell on him so he can't even call Sammy and demand some answers . He's stuck his head in the sand for long enough and if his brother really is evil, he would like to know about it. He rubs his hands in his eyes and just doesn't have a freaking clue.

He must have fallen asleep but he doesn't even know how because he is sat in one of Castiel's expensive but not very comfortable chairs because it was better than wearing a hole in the floor. Castiel has not shown up and he is getting a little bored of doing nothing. He makes and executive decision and he knows that the only option is that he needs some information and he knows where he is going to get it.

He heads to where he parked the Impala. Luckily, he had made the decision to park in a secure car park rather than by the motel otherwise it would have been destroyed like the rest of his stuff. The city is in an uproar. It turns out that Dean's motel was not the only place that had been targeted. Several random locations throughout out Lawrence. Everyone seems panicked and scared and Dean doesn't have to be looking to see Castiel's Batman signal in the sky.

Dean climbs into the front seat of his baby and opens the glove compartment. There are at least six other cell phones in there, including the one that belonged to his dad, that haven't yet been blown up. Dean thinks he should probably call Sam but he doesn't have the guts so he dials another number.

"What do you want, idjit?" the voice asks. Bobby sounds as cheerful as ever Dean thinks.

"What do you know about what Sam has been up to?" Dean asks without beating around the bush. There is no point to do so with Bobby. He could always cut through Dean's bullshit.

He hears Bobby going for the liquor. "What do you know?"

"I don't know anything, Bobby, that is why I am calling you," Dean mutters running a hand through his hair. Then he stops. "Is it true?"

"You mean him leading the armies of hell against the angels, then yes it is," Bobby replies starkly.

Dean gets pissed off. "Why did no one think to inform me that my brother has gone darkside?" Dean shouts and he remembers that he is in a public place and anyone could be watching him, the demons or the so-called angels. Whatever. He knows that this is probably the least well thought out conversation that he has had in days.

"Because you would go and do something stupid," Bobby replies.

It's like a huge pit has opened into his stomach because it is Sammy. His little brother and even though he wants to continue to deny it, he can't and it hurts. It really hurts. For a very long time, his brother was everything to him and even after all of this time apart, he would think that he would do anything for him. The only thing Dean is sure that he cannot do is kill his brother. "Don't you think it is something I should have found out before he tried to blow me up?"

"He did what?"

"Yeah, if it wasn't for Castiel, then I would have been…."

"Castiel?"

"The angel. Or so he says," Dean explains.

"Angels? Boy, this is worse than I thought," Bobby mutters and Dean can hear him moving around from the other end of the line. "Where are you?"

"Lawrence."

"Of course," Bobby replies. "I will be there in six hours."

Bobby hangs up and suddenly Dean is left all alone in the middle of a car park with no idea what is going to happen next.

He feels the air displace before he even has to turn around and look to see Castiel sitting in the passenger seat of his car. Where Sam would have been if he hadn't gone to law school and remained hunting with him. Castiel looks strange in the car like he doesn't belong there. He doesn't think that Castiel would look in place anywhere not even in his own house.

"Your brother has gone and so have his demons. They are no longer in this place," Castiel starts and Damn, he is going to have to teach him to say hello or something.

"So where have they gone?" Dean asks. Part of him wants to follow him and part of him wants to stay the hell where he because following Sam means that he has to decide what he should do when he gets to him.

"I do not know. They have evaded even my methods."

"Right, okay. So what do we do now?" Dean asks.

"We?" Castiel asks confused.

"Yeah, we. You said that you guys dragged me out of hell for a reason. I thought I might as well be useful," Dean replies then he realises belatedly that Castiel is bleeding. "Shit, dude. Don't get blood all over the upholstery."

"My apologies," Castiel replies. He looks at his right sleeve which is dripping in blood and he doesn't even notice. It might not be all his own blood but some of it must have been because now that Dean is looking, and he tries hard not to look at Castiel for too long, but the angel Is swaying slightly in his seat and he looks more of a mess than usual. "The battle with the remaining demons taxed me a little."

"How many were there?"

"I lost count. Somewhere in the low hundreds."

"Dude, that's awesome," Dean replies both impressed and a little anxious that the angel had taken on so many demons by himself.

"Thank you," Castiel replies before collapsing in his seat. Dammnit, Dean thinks because he can barely take care of himself, let alone a pass out angel.

Dean drove back to Castiel's house because he doesn't know where else to go. Nowhere seems to be safe and Dean is really careful to make sure that they are not followed. Castiel had said that all of the demons had gone but he doesn't trust that there isn't a sneaky bastard hiding out somewhere.

Castiel doesn't wake up during the drive and Dean is worried because he doesn't know anything about angels but he is sure that Castiel is tough, considering he keeps breaking his fist against Castiel's nose. He must have taken a big hit. Dean cannot help but look at him every chance that he gets. The angel looks, well human asleep. He has his mouth half open and his face his pressed against the passenger side window in a way that can't be comfortable and must be a little bit cold. Dean has the strange urge to comfort him just like he would comfort Sam when he was little and he got hurt. Castiel just seems so childlike and innocence and not filled with that righteous fury.

Dean finally pulls into Castiel's driveway. The traffic in the city had been a nightmare even if Dean hadn't been given much attention to the read but he is happy now to final to come to somewhere to rest. Castiel is still asleep and Dean is forced to lift him out of the car, bridal style. The angel isn't as heavy as he expects and it isn't hard to get into the house. The stupid angel, of course hadn't locked his front doors.

Dean finds a sort of bedroom and places Castiel down. He doesn't know if angels are supposed to sleep and it doesn't look like the room has ever been used. Dean doesn't know what to do (yeah, it is a first right). He just pulls of the angel's trench coat. It is covered in blood just like the rest of his clothes and throws it on the floor. Everything in the room is going to be covered in blood but Dean doesn't care about that right now. Castiel can use his angel mojo to make the room clean if he wants to once he is better. Dean's only concern is to make sure that the angel does get better. He knows he owes it to Castiel because he would still be in the pit if it wasn't for him or he would have been killed too many times over in the last couple of days. This is the least that he could do.

Once he has taken off the angel's coat, he realises that he has to take off the angel's blazer jacket too. It is torn in places from knife wounds and so is the shirt. Dean takes them all off until the angel is naked from the waist up. Dean realises belatedly, that he has just stripped an angel and yeah, he is going to hell again. It's not like there is anything perverted about the moment anyway because Dean is too fixated on the symbols that have been carved into Castiel's chest. They are deep and horrible looking and Dean cannot help but feel the pain for him. It isn't even the only place that the angel is bleeding from and he is covered in bruises. He suddenly wants to kill every demon in existence.

Dean gets some water and a clean cloth and starts cleaning the angel's wounds. Even as he is cleaning, it is healing. Slowly but faster than any human he has ever seen. Castiel still doesn't wake though even if he has mostly stopped bleeding. Dean is very careful, more careful than he would be if it was himself, and soon there is no more blood. Dean would usually sew up the deep wounds and then bandage them but it probably wouldn't help the angel with the rate that he is healing so Dean just takes Castiel's clothes from where they are on the floor and puts them in some water to soak.

By the time he gets back, Castiel is awake. He is just lying on the bed, looking blank and a little confused.

"Are you okay?" Dean asks, immediately coming over to where the angel is lying even though he doesn't' want to seem like he had been too nervous.

"I am better, thank you," Castiel mutters. His eyes snap from where they had been staring at the ceiling like he has been broken out of some spell. He tries to sit up and winces.

"No, lie down," Dean insists, places two hands gently on Castiel's shoulders and trying to get him to relax onto the bed. It is a testament to how weak that the angel is feeling that Dean manages to. "What happened?" Dean waves a hand vaguely over the marks on Castiel's chest.

"It's a sigil. It gets rid of demons," Castiel mutters. His voice is even more gruff than usual which is saying something.

"Did you need to carve it into your chest?"

"It had to be in angel blood and there wasn't an available suitable surface," Castiel explains like it is simple why he had to do such a stupid thing.

"Well look harder next time," Dean complains. "Don't want you dying on me."

"The demons cannot kill me," Castiel replies. He is still lying on the bed and looking up at Dean with a strange look. Dean hasn't moved his hands of Castiel's shoulders.

"Well, they certainly tried," Dean remarks and he is annoyed because he cares too much about Castiel and when did the angel become so important to him?

Castiel doesn't reply. He just stares at Dean. It's intense and weird and Dean find himself moving in a little bit. Castiel leans forward too and they are close. Dean could kiss him if he wants to. Does he want to? He doesn't even know what Castiel is but he knows that twisting feeling in his stomach when he thought about Castiel hurt. No one else got to him like that apart from family.

He is close enough to feel Castiel's breath on his face. If he was a girl, he could count his eyelashes. Dean doesn't have enough time to have a gay freak out because yeah, Castiel is male but his mind isn't even going to those places. All he sees is Castiel and all he is thinking about is his lips.

One of Dean's hands moves from Castiel's shoulder to his cheek and it only takes one movement.

Then suddenly the moment is broken as the sounds of a monotone classic rock tune comes from Dean's cellphone and he quickly moves to answer it. It's Bobby just asking for directions but Dean thinks he has stopped Dean making the biggest mistake of his life.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Another day, another chapter. Should probaly be doing coursework but what the hell. Also should warn you that I don't know anything about law degrees in America other than there is no undergraduate level. As an undergraduate law english law student, I have decided to take a whole lot of liberties on the whole thing so most of it will be made up. Anyway, enjoy and review!

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><p>Dean's heart is stammering in his chest. He takes a couple of deep breaths and waits for Bobby to pull up into Castiel's driveway. Castiel has passed out again, he must have done so while Dean was on the phone. Dean hopes that isn't a bad sign. He has already healed better than Dean could ever expect but he thinks that the angel must be tired or something. Dean doesn't think much about it. He just goes and waits in another room.<p>

Bobby comes only ten minutes later, obviously not struggling through the traffic like Dean had. Dean immediately hugs Bobby as soon as he steps through the door like he hasn't seen in him years rather than the couple of months that it has been but it has been a long couple of days to his defence.

"Nice place," Bobby whistles, looking around. They are in the entrance hall which is probably bigger than Bobby's whole damn house. It's two storeys high with a sweeping spiral staircase in the middle. Everything is gold and over the top. Despite the grandiose of it all, it doesn't distract Bobby from the trial of blood on the floor. Dean hadn't notice it before. He'd been too busy, well you know… "Yours?"

"Cas's," Dean replies immediately. Bobby gives him a look which is all like confused and the nickname hadn't even occurred to be weird to Dean it just seems less of a mouthful than Castiel.

"How is he?" Bobby asks instead. There is rather a lot of blood and what is on the floor isn't even the most of it. Dean thanks again whoever is listening, and he is sure that it isn't God, that Castiel managed to even survived that.

"I have no idea. Like I know anything about angels. Or whatever he is," Dean remarks, trying to be casual and failing spectacularly. Bobby has dealt with enough Winchesters to not ask things like that.

Dean takes Bobby to where Castiel is lying half naked and covered in wounds. Bobby lets out another whistle and Dean almost wants to get a blanket for Cas. It isn't like Castiel minds seeing as he is passed out. Bobby starts inspecting the wounds without touching Cas. Dean just stands and hovers, unsure of what he should do. Bobby asks a couple of questions about what had happened and Dean answers them the best that he can. It isn't like Castiel is forthcoming with information.

Once Bobby is satisfied with whatever he is trying to find in the sigils that Castiel had carved into his chest, Dean finally pulls his attention away from the half-naked angel.

"What are we going to do about Sam?" Dean asks.

"What do you mean?" Bobby asks.

"Well, he is my responsibility." Dean stops for a second. He looks at Castiel then back at Bobby. "If I have to stop him then I will."

"We have to find first."

Sam Winchester was just like any ordinary student. He worked hard. Really hard but then he wanted this more than the rest of them could know. He wanted the normal life, something that most people took for granted. He wanted to be safe. He didn't want to worry about the sort of creatures that crept around at night. He didn't want bad diners and even worse motels and stealing credit cards and hustling pool. He just wanted a normal life and a normal wife where he could do some good in the world whilst doing something legal. He wanted the world in his hands and that was what he got.

He always knew that becoming a lawyer was going to be hard work. The way that the market was for lawyers , law schools churned out more and more each year making it an almost impossible job to get and ridiculously competitive. It was a cut throat job. Literally of course. You just had to know who's throat that you had to slit.

Sam had dressed in his best suit which was still pretty poor because he was a student and it wasn't an easy life. He had planned this all in his head. Worked over and over with it time and again and nothing could stop him from getting there on time. Not even an unannounced interruption from his brother. The last time he would see Dean in four years. He would get a full ride and he knew it. He had the grades and then once he was in grad school he could finally become a lawyer. Only it wasn't what he expected.

A man, a strange looking man, was sat in an office waiting for Sam. Sam was confused because this wasn't the person he was expecting. It doesn't matter though as long as he is the Admissions Office.

"Hello," Sam asks unsure. He doesn't sit or offer his hand to the man until he is sure that he has got the right room.

"Samuel Winchester?" the man asks.

"Yes, sir," Sam replies and finally offers his hand and the man takes it but instead of letting go, the man places his second hand over Sam's, trapping it. Sam is confused but he doesn't jerk it away because this could just be a weird custom or something. The guy was probably European.

"I hear you want to sell your soul," the man asked.

Sam definitely finds that weird but in case he has misheard he corrects the man. "I want to be a lawyer."

"So you want to sell your soul. I mean you can keep your soul if you want to be working in MacDonalds for the rest of your life with thousands of dollars of graduate debt," the man replied. Sam wanted to protest but hell it is the truth.

"What do I have to do? I will do anything," Sam replied.

"Anything?" the man replied and his eyes flickered yellow for a second and Sam couldn't blame it on the lighting.

Dean and Bobby are sitting in quiet after taking a quick tour of the angel's house, as in the probably only covered half of the rooms and they found no sign of beers or anything. Bobby found Castiel's library and Dean had to drag him out before it got embarrassing with how fanboy Bobby is over old books. They are sat in a sort of dining-room because Bobby suggested that they should give the Castiel some privacy and Dean had been torn between wanting to spend the time watching Castiel, to not wanting Bobby to spend time watching the angel. Then Dean had to really think about why that was and he thought it was best for everyone concerned that he and Bobby sat another room.

"So what's going on between you and Castiel?" Bobby asks after a while of the silence.

Dean immediately jumps to the defensive which is stupid. "Nothing." Bobby gives him a look. "He says he pulled me out of hell."

"I am sure that is all there is, you idjit," Bobby replies and it goes back to silence again.

Dean goes to check on Castiel. He manages to find the room after is fourth try and he finds that Castiel is still lying on the bed but his eyes are open.

"I don't like feeling hurt," Castiel mutters as soon as he hears Dean close the door. "It is new to me."

"I wish I could say otherwise but you don't get used to it," Dean says. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Castiel replies. He sits up and he is looking a lot better. Most of the wounds have fully closed and look days old rather than hours. Castiel gets to his feet, looking stranger now that he isn't wearing any clothes than before. He is about to leave the room when he suddenly just stops moving. "There has been someone else here."

Dean doesn't know how he can tell because there are no obvious signs about Bobby being around. "It's just my friend, Bobby Singer." It might have not been allowed for Dean to have just invited him here. He doesn't know anything about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in angel societies. He had just assumed that it would be okay. "He is a good guy, Bobby. He has helped my family a lot since I was little."

"It is okay, Dean. I trust your judgement over this Bobby Singer," Castiel replies. Dean doesn't understand why seeing as a couple of days ago, Dean thought that his brother was just a lawyer.

Castiel doesn't bother putting the rest of his clothes on and Dean completely forgets until they are talking to Bobby again. Castiel seems interested in what Bobby thinks about the whole issue and Bobby is just interested in talking to a real life angel. They hit it off immediately and Dean feels like the third wheel and it will take electrodes to his balls before he admits why that is.

Dean is really feeling like the ugly girl in the corner when suddenly, the air changes and there is a fourth person in the room. "You might want to run now," suddenly the British demon demands.

"Who are you?" Bobby demands and there really is no time because man the demon looks worse than Castiel does.

"Your brother is coming," the demon adds. "And is bringing his army with him!" Then the demon disappears like the coward he is. Dean thought he was English and not French.

There isn't enough time for an escape before the room is suddenly filled with twenty demons or maybe more. Dean has a weapon on him but it is no Colt and there is no way that he would be able to set up an exorcism to get rid of them all unless Castiel had something up his sleeve. It isn't the demons thought that should be Dean's largest concern because Sam is standing there. He is wearing a smart expensive suit that has definitely been tailored. His hair is slicked back and styled. He has shiny shoes and a smart watch and even though he looks kinda like a douchebag, Dean cannot help but think that the look suits his brother. If only the accessories was a demon army, Dean would think that it is his best look yet.

"Hello, Dean," Sam says. His tone is condensing and well just frankly evil. "It's good to see you well."

"You tried to kill me!" Dean replies angrily and he would start throwing punches if there isn't a demon bullet shield in the way. He doesn't know if he is brother is a human anymore or if he is one of them.

"Who told you that?" Sam asks, feinting a little hurt.

"Your demon!" Dean replies.

"Crowley?" Sam laughs. "If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't have set him anyway. I wanted to see where his loyalties lie. It seems to be in the wrong place. We will get him."

"You are going to kill him?"

"That's really none of your concern. What I am here for Dean, is to see where your loyalties lie?"

"Not with the demons!" Dean replies. He has been fighting demons all his life, he knows they are heartless, soulless, traitorous bastards and he would rather dance around naked and in public to some recent pop crap than ever trust a demon.

"That's rather an out-dated ideal. We have to stand by them, Dean!" Sam replies. "It is the only way to win this war and prevent millions of people from dying." Dean looks to Castiel because this is the first time Dean is hearing anything about a war and Sam seems to find this amusing. "Your little angel boyfriend not told you what those dicks have planned?"

Castiel cannot say anything to reply because suddenly four demons have got hold of him. One of them has a knife to his throat, Castiel doesn't seem to be too worried about it.

"Well, let me explain," Sam, well explains. "The angels want to destroy the planet. Kill all of the humans and we plan to stop it."

"Why would demons want to save humans? Why would angels want to kill them?" Bobby asks because Dean is way over his head with this one.

"That is a long story. All that matters is are you on board or are you not?" Sam asks, impatient and Dean is never one to be rushed when he doesn't want to be.

"No, Sammy. Not this time," Dean replies with determination even though he thinks that he is making a stupid decision. He is pushing his brother away again when he should be reaching out to him.

"It's a real shame. And don't call me Sammy," Sam says and then he disappears. But his demon army doesn't. They are on him in a second. Two of them grab him by the arms and trap him. A third takes his weapon from him. There are too many of them to see how well Castiel and Bobby are doing but from the sounds of things or rather the lack of the sounds of Bobby's shotgun, it cannot be going that well.

Dean hears a shout and he knows it is Castiel. One of the demons have stabbed him in the heart and muttering some sort of exorcism but like nothing he has heard before. Castiel's eyes are glowing, something (his soul? His grace?) seems to be pouring out and like always Dean doesn't know what is going on but he knows the he has to stop it.

He gets the strength from somewhere to push the demons off him and kicks the one that is muttering the weird things at Castiel. There are more demons coming at him all of the time and there are just too many and they are all going to die there.

"I'll hold them off," Castiel replies. "Go!" And before Dean has a chance to reply, Castiel's fingers press against his forehead and he is suddenly standing next to his car on Castiel's driveway. From outside, it is hard to tell anything that is going on inside but Dean knows and there is no way that he is going to let another person sacrifice themselves for him. Especially not Castiel.

Before Dean manages to get inside Bobby is there with him. "Castiel zap you out too?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, I wouldn't go back there if I was you," Bobby replies. Dean ignores him of course, just like he ignores anyone who tells him what to do. As he is opening up the front door. The house is suddenly lit with this unbelievably bright light. Dean cannot help it, he cannot look away even though it hurts in ways that he cannot imagine and yet is entirely painless.

"Close your eyes," Bobby demands. Dean doesn't. He doesn't know why but he cannot stop looking at the light. Then it is gone and Dean feels suddenly empty. He doesn't think, he just runs straight back into the house. Bobby is on his heels.

They find the room with the demons in it. All of them, every last one is on the floor, obviously dead. Dean kicks the first one and rolls it over. The demons eyes are burnt out. Like right out of their sockets. Dean has no idea what is even capable of doing that. It's happened to every single demon in the room. Dean just remembers the light. It must have been Castiel.

Dean finds him in the middle of the room, typically passed out. Dean thinks it is becoming a habit of the angel's or maybe Castiel just loves trying to give him a heartattack.

"Dude, are you okay?" Dean asks when coming down to look at Castiel. He is breathing at least. Dean doesn't know if angels need to breathe but it is still good. Castiel groans. It is a very human sound. Do angels groan? Well, apparently this one does.

"Dean?" Castiel asks.

"Yeah, I am here. All the demons are dead. Dude, you're awesome," Dean manages to say before Castiel sits up suddenly and captures Dean's lips in a kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Another chapter! Okay just to warn anyone who actually might be reading this, I think I know the ending and it isn't going to be good! Though I will write a sequel if that happens. At any rate the end is far off yet though this is filled with angst and stuff but then so is supernatural. And if you haven't seen season six, there is sort of allusions to it but not exactly seeing as this is entirely AU. So it is safe enough.

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><p>The kiss is hot and messy. Castiel has no idea what he is doing and Dean can tell but it doesn't stop him from kissing back because it is just perfect. Perfect enough for Dean to forget that they are surrounded by demon bodies, perfect enough to forget the light that he had seen only moments before and perfect enough to forget that Bobby is in the room. That is until Bobby coughs and the moment goes from ridiculously chick flick to ridiculously awkward in less than a couple of seconds. A new land speed record or something.<p>

Dean wants to move away from Castiel but Castiel is clinging to Dean's shirt and there is no way Dean is moving unless Castiel wants him to move and yeah that isn't happening. The angel has a look in his eyes and Dean is sure that he is going to get laid. He isn't sure how he feels about that lest of all if the angel decides that they aren't going to get a room first.

Only the fight (and the kiss Dean is proud to admit) has taken it out of the recovering angel and Castiel promptly passes out like it is going out of style and with the way that Cas seems to be doing it all the time, it seems like he is trying to bring it back.

"So what was that about?" Bobby asked, looking at Castiel, who even unconscious is gripping Dean with inhuman strength.

"I have no idea, Bobby," Dean replies truthfully.

"Like hell you do," Bobby remarks. "We need to get out of here." And Dean doesn't need to be told twice.

They decide that the only good thing to do is to get to Bobby's house as soon as possible. It isn't safe for them in Lawrence even if Sam and his demon posse are probably miles away now. Dean had seen how Sam had just disappeared, just like the demons do and there is no denying what that means. His brother is a demon. Dean only hopes that he is possessed and he isn't in control of his actions because he has no idea what is going to do if it is really Sam.

Bobby takes his car and Dean takes the Impala. He puts Castiel in the backseat without a word to Bobby about what he is doing but there is no way that he is allowing Bobby to drive with Cas the whole six and a half hours back to South Dakota. He is possessive but he doesn't care.

Castiel remains asleep for almost the whole during. He doesn't stay still though which is unnerving Dean. The first time Castiel moves, they are not even onto the I-29. His whole body shudders and Dean very nearly drives into oncoming traffic from the surprise of it. He has been watching Castiel more than the road and it is just a little terrifying. The angel seems unaffected by it and goes back to sleeping peacefully. Then only a couple of minutes it happens again and this time he hits his head against the door with such a crunching sound Dean not only worried about Cas but his car. His car is fine and so is Castiel because before they manage to reach Sioux City, Castiel suddenly sits up, awake and alert. He doesn't say anything to Dean, he just looks around, realises that he is in a car and disappears.

"Fuck," Dean swears and carries on driving. He suddenly misses Castiel like a bullet through the brain and he knows that three isn't something right about that.

The first thing Bobby notices when they reach his house is the lack of angel sprawled across Dean's back seat.

"Where's your angel boyfriend?" Bobby asks. Dean shoots him a look. It isn't as pissed off as he hoped. It was more hurt. God, Dean is such a girl.

Dean storms into the house after Bobby. He wants a drink, preferably six maybe ten. He doesn't want to think about Sam or Castiel or anything for just one minute. It is all in his head and it is making him feel sick. The only way to deal with any of this is to get as drunk as possible.

Castiel is waiting for him in the kitchen. Dean jumps from the shock. He is sure that Castiel had just buggered off back to heaven or something. Dean doesn't want to know where Castiel goes when he isn't here. He could be organising with Sam to kill the whole planet for all Dean knows.

"Where did you go?" Dean asks. He is angry. At Castiel for leaving, at Sam and at himself and Cas is the one that is there for Dean to take it out on him.

"I believe I may suffer from motion sickness," Castiel mutters ashamed and damn, Dean just burst out in laughter. Of all the things and Castiel gets sick in cars! Castiel does look a little bit green.

"Man," Dean laughs and tries to get his breath back. "I thought you had gone back to heaven."

"I cannot go back to heaven," Castiel replies. It is so quiet that Dean barely hears it over his own loud, laboured breaths but it stops him dead in his tracks. What?

"What?" Dean asks because it is the only thought in his head but Bobby has just come up behind them.

"So I see you've come back?" Bobby asks. Castiel just nods as if he doesn't want to reveal his weaknesses in front of Bobby.

"So tell us what is going on with Heaven then, Cas?" Dean demands. He has the words that Sam said bouncing around his skull. He, just for once, doesn't want to be left in the dark. He feels like everyone is trying to protect him like he is breakable. Well, he might just start doing some breaking himself.

"The angels plan to destroy the Earth," Castiel replies. And Dean is glad that he isn't holding anything because he would have thrown it in his face.

"What?"

"It has long been since foreseen. I believe that your bible refer to it as the rapture," Castiel replies. "It does mean that hundreds of thousands of souls will be condemned to hell."

Dean remembers hell. He cannot not remember it. He doesn't wish anyone else to go there. "Why are the angels doing this?"

"Because it has been foreseen, Dean," Castiel repeats. "It is the way that it has to be." There is silence for a moment. "But it does not mean, it is what I want." Castiel is shifty and uncomfortable like he has just confessed to touching himself whilst thinking of something pervert, which is that trench coat makes him look dirty.

Dean connects the dots because he isn't stupid. "You stood up to your bosses?"

Castiel shifts. "I rebelled. When I dragged your soul out of the pit, I knew that I did not want for it to go back and if the angels had their way, that is where you would go."

"Holy shit," Dean replies because he cannot think of anything better to say. Castiel rebelled to save him from going to hell. It turns out Castiel started self-sacrificing for Dean before they had even met. Dean doesn't need that kind of shit. He goes to get Bobby's whiskey.

"I think you better get us up to speed," Bobby says for him. Castiel is confused and for a second he is about to comment to Bobby that all three of them are stationary and "getting them up" to speeds that he is capable of would probably kill them. Then he realises that Bobby just requires information. Human mannerisms are beyond him, as old as he is.

"After Sam sent Dean to hell," Castiel begins and there is the sounds of glass shattering. Dean has dropped Bobby's bottle of whiskey.

"What?" Dean and Bobby ask in unison.

"Perhaps I should go back further," Castiel replies. Both Dean and Bobby nod in reply.

All it had taken was his soul. Sam didn't remember the demon taking it but he felt different. It wasn't obvious to begin with. He just felt like him but not really. He didn't feel. At first he thought that it was just stress because of working so hard. He was taking every class under the sun. He was working hours he didn't think was humanly possible, and belatedly realised that was because he didn't need to sleep. He was so stressed out about work and stuff he thought it was normal but when Jessica announced that his grandmother died and he just thought how inconvenient going to a funeral would be on his studies he knew that something was wrong.

He would sit and watch films that were supposed to be tear jerkers and felt nothing. Sure they were chick flicks but he wasn't Dean and he actually was capable of accepting he was human and he was able to feel things on an emotional level. Only now he wasn't. He tried to feel sad, he tried to feel angry but there was just this empty feeling. He didn't care about anything.

He ended up breaking it off with Jessica. He went from loving her and wanting to spend the rest of his life with her, to find her all a bit of a waste of time. He had to have dinners with her and movies when he could be doing something a lot more important. Like studying. He didn't feel anything when he let her go. He didn't even feel bad that he felt nothing.

He was left alone for a couple of months. Or at least he thought. He had been out of the hunting game long enough that he hadn't even noticed that pretty much everyone around him was possessed. The lectures, his classmates, even the janitor in his building. It wasn't until his tort professor's TA came to him that he realised that everything was pretty much fucked for him from now on and if he wanted to do well, he had to do everything that they told him. Because he had no soul, he did exactly what they said.

Sam was a good lawyer. He worked hard to win his cases and didn't get emotional attached and if during his free hours in the evenings, he happened to hang around with demons planning things that to a Sam who hadn't pawned his soul to be the world's best lawyer, would have been evil. Sam like this didn't really care. Or rather he did because it became his mission. He would dedicate himself to what the demons wanted him to do like he dedicated himself to his studies. To begin with it was little things. He would make deals, act as bodyguard or collect rare and strange items. It never involved death or hurting people. Until the day that it did and Sam thought he should have cared more about dragging the poor girl to hell. He should have realised that was where he was going to end up but like everything else, he couldn't care less.

It became a weekly thing, then a daily and Sam wished he could say that he had become hand to all of the death but he just was used to it in the beginning. Used to washing the blood from his clothes, thinking of clever ways to get rid of the bodies and to cover up his involvement. Sam was good at it and it started becoming less of a side line thing and something that took over his life. He was still a lawyer. He would make the youngest partner of a top LA law firm ever recorded but he would still be this monster. And he didn't care.

It is probably why when Dean's name was on his list, he had no hesitation. He sent his own brother into hell.

Castiel tried the best that he could to tell Dean about what happened without breaking Dean's fist again. Or rather Dean breaking his fist again against his face. Castiel doesn't like that. Not because it hurts him because he barely feels it but because it hurts Dean and Castiel wishes that he could never hurt Dean but it is all he can do now.

"Sam dragged me to hell?" Dean asks. It has to be the hundred time and for how much Castiel likes Dean, he also finds him one of the hugest idiots that he has ever met. And Castiel is really old. He has met a lot of idiots.

"Yes, Dean," Castiel replies through gritted teeth and wishes that he is the angel of temperance. He needs to sit and consider what he thinks about Dean, what he feels because he kissed Dean. It isn't going to go away even if they are currently arguing about Sam. "What is difficult to understand?"

"The whole damn thing!"

"Sam sold his soul to a demon known as Azazel. The man you met before is not your brother. He is what the demons wanted him to be. Your brother is long gone and he is not coming back," Castiel replies.

Dean throws the bottle of beer that he is holding at Castiel's head. Castiel doesn't move. Perhaps because he thinks that he deserves it or perhaps because a bottle isn't really that threatening. It shatters against him. The remaining liquid covers him and it is irritating and so are the tiny little fragments of glass that cut him but immediately heal. It probably is the time that Castiel and Dean remember that he hasn't got dressed yet and Castiel decides to disappear for good.

He returns home. He shouldn't because it is probably crawling with demons. It isn't but he shouldn't have risked it anyway. He shouldn't have left Dean but now he has, he feels better for it and he hates himself for thinking so. Dean carries so much doubt and angry inside himself and Castiel can feel it all. Castiel wishes that he could take it all away but he can't so it is almost unbearable to be around Dean. And when he thinks about what he did. Kissing Dean, it makes it impossible.

Castiel is unsure. He has spent his whole life following orders without question. Everything was absolute. Black and white and he didn't stop and ask questions. He was a soldier and he was good at what he did. When he was asked to pull Dean Winchester out of hell, he didn't think about what it meant. He didn't think about the hell pits and their terror. He didn't think for once that he, like so many of the other angels in is garrison, wouldn't come back alive. If he didn't then he would have died following orders and he would have been okay with that. But seeing Dean in the pit, dragging him out and cradling Dean's broken soul in his arms made him suddenly feel. He was unsure and he hated it. He rebelled against Zachariah's word. He hasn't fallen, not like Lucifer but he will if he continues down the path that he is heading but part of him doesn't mind. He would happily rip out his grace for Dean. The thought does not scare him as much as it should.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N**: After that last episode, Dean should be glad that I haven't torched his ass... I swear. Anyway, new post which is relatively slow for the way that posts go. I think I know how this ends. I am not sure. It is writing itself and for the most part I don't know what is going to happen until I start writing. Though there is going to be slash I promise but not is this post. And there is a sneak quote from the most reason episode buried in here. Cookies for anyone who can pick it up.

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><p>Dean's problem is that he doesn't remember. Whether or not his memories had protected him or his time in hell had wiped them out, Dean doesn't know what happened before he went to hell. There is a whole six months where he cannot remember a damn thing. To him it hadn't been such a huge problem. He had spent forty years in hell doing things that he isn't proud of. He doesn't want to remember that so he drinks. Thinking to before then, seemed like a life ago. A life that he couldn't get back before he became this new Dean. A Dean that is broken and destroyed. Perhaps now is the time that he remembers some of those things.<p>

He is sat on Bobby's couch. After Castiel left, pissed off and annoyed, Dean had been left alone. Bobby went and did _something_ and Dean had been too wrapped up in his own thoughts so much he hadn't even noticed the older hunter's disappearance until Dean needed him for something.

He cannot remember what he did. He knows that he had been alone for the whole time. It was shortly after his Dad's death and he isn't going to lie but he was a total mess. Without Sammy, without anyone he wasn't grounded. He made one stupid mistake after another and he knew that one day that was going to get him killed but that wasn't what brought him to hell. He just didn't know what did.

Dean groans. He wants to drink but that isn't going to help him. He wants Castiel but he certainly is going to help him either. Dean knows he shouldn't have thrown the bottle. Okay sure, he knew it wouldn't hurt him but it was a rather asshole move after all. But Dean knows that he didn't intend the bottle to hit Cas. It was for someone else. Castiel just happened to be there.

Dean cannot help but think about Cas. Like all of the time. Amongst all of the rubbish that is going on, Castiel is there even though Dean hasn't ask him to be and he isn't family. He has got under Dean's skin like no one has done in years. Not since hell or maybe even before that with his dad's death. He's closed himself off for so long that maybe it is time to let someone back in.

"What do you want Dean?" Castiel demands. Castiel is just there. He is fully dressed now and looking a little bit annoyed. Dean would be pissed off if he was Cas.

"I didn't ask for you," is all Dean can reply impertinently. He doesn't mean it of course. He just hadn't said it out loud and Castiel appearing has caught him off guard.

"I can hear your thoughts in Lawrence, Dean," Castiel replies. He places his hands on his hips and suddenly looks like a housewife. He has this look on his face and Dean wants to kiss it off him. Yet there is so much that Dean is thinking about.

"What happened with me going to hell, Cas?"

"I know that you made a deal with Azazel. Your brother was the one who collected your soul," Castiel pauses. "My condolences."

"I made a deal?" Dean asks. "What for?"

"I do not know, Dean. My orders came from high up. I was not given that information," Castiel replies. He turns his back to Dean. It makes Dean feel like Cas can't stand to look at him.

"I'm sorry."

"You do not have to apologise for anything, Dean."

"I shouldn't have taken this out on you. You rebelled against heaven for me…."

"That was my decision."

"Cas…"

"No, Dean you don't understand. Before I met you, I was a soldier and a warrior but I had no free will," Castiel explains. "The angels' plan is unjust and it took me dragging you out of hell to realise it."

"So what do we do now?"

"We find your brother and kill him. His plan might be to destroy the host of heaven but his motives are wrong. He doesn't want to kill the angels to stop the rapture. He is doing because he wants to take control of it and condemn everyone to hell."

"I can't kill Sam," Dean mutters. "He is still my brother."

"Your brother has been dead from the moment that he gave his soul to Azazel."

"How do we find him?"

"I do not know. I am not as powerful as I once was and he has cloaked my methods," Castiel explains.

"I guess we have to find him the old fashioned way."

Two months of trying the old fashioned way isn't really working. Dean keeps finding what he thinks are leads. Demons omens to be sure. Cattle mutations, electric storms and weird deaths but it just turns out to be demons that apparently have no connection to Sam. Dean spends two months going up and down the country. He must have ganked twenty of those sons of bitches, more than he usually does in a year. Most of the time, Dean doesn't get a chance to integrate them. The rest of the time, the demons claim that they have never heard of Sam Winchester and the laugh in Dean's face. He could go down a path that he doesn't want to but it doesn't seem worth it. He still isn't sure that he even wants to find the demons.

He discovers one thing though. All the demons, all over the country, all over the world are all distractions. They don't want him to find Sam. Whatever Sam is doing, he doesn't want Dean to get in the way. He should have known that from the beginning.

Most of the time, Dean is on his own. He has been like that for so long now that he doesn't really mind it. Castiel pops in every now and again. Castiel still spends a lot of time in Lawrence. They have their bat signal and Castiel confesses that it doesn't exactly work. It isn't like he spends his whole time staring at the sky. There are a lot of demons in Lawrence still. None of them will give them any sort of leads on Sam of course but it doesn't mean they make it easy for Castiel to get rid of them either. Sometimes Castiel will appear in Dean's car or motel room looking so bad, so covered in blood and God knows what else that if he had been human he would have been dead. He still seems to be an angel even if he doesn't have access to the full length of powers.

Castiel has come on this mission. It is some backwater town and Dean cannot even be bothered to remember what it is called. It is important because there are about six demons in town. It is the largest number of demons gathered in one place at one time for a while and Dean thinks that it is suspicious enough that they need to check it out. It is dangerous enough that they have to go together.

They have a strange sort of relationship based on the fact that neither of them talk about anything meaningful. Dean doesn't mention about having to kill his brother, Castiel's fall or the fact that they kissed. Dean, instead introduces Castiel to many of the joys of being human, mainly beer, porn and women. Castiel doesn't seem to be interested in any of them. Beer doesn't seem to give him a buzz no matter how much he drinks, porn confuses him and women scare him. Dean gives up pretty quickly after Castiel has no reservation on telling everyone that he meets in the bars that they have visited that he is an angel of the lord.

They get a room together that night. They have narrowed the location of the demons down and though Castiel wants to continue looking, it is late, Dean is tired and hungry and just wants to relax for a little bit. He isn't sure that Castiel understand the meaning of the words.

He is watching Doctor Sexy on tv and Castiel is staring at a space just above the old set. The wall paper is hideous like in all of the really bad motels that they have been in and Dean doesn't know what is so fascinating. Perhaps he has seen the face of god in it or something. Dean isn't going to prod him tonight. He doesn't like the silence though so he thinks to ask Castiel a question.

"So how are we going to send those sons of bitches back to hell?" Dean asks. The demons have been brutual. There have been twenty-two deaths in this town so far and all of them have been under the age of twelve. The deaths were bloody and painful. Dean really wants to kill these demons. Even Castiel seems to be affected by what has been going on.

"Exorcism rituals will work. There may be many of them but it will be no difficulty," Castiel states.

"Like back in Lawrence? That light show was impressive," Dean remarks casually. He has seen Castiel fight plenty of times. He has a lot of moves that knock demons off their feet. He just presses his hands to their foreheads and like electricity sparks through them and they drop to the floor. He knows hundreds of exorcism spells in a language that Dean cannot get his tongue around. He can use a knife with such skill that Dean is jealous. He can't use a shotgun which is Dean's only consolation.

"Light show?" Castiel asks confused then he remembers. "You weren't supposed to be able to see that."

"What was it?"

"Me."

"I can see you now dude and you don't look anything like that."

"It is my true form."

"So what are you in now?"

"This is a vessel," Castiel explains.

"You are possessing some poor bastard?" Dean hadn't even considered it before. He had just assumed that the body was Castiel's own.

"He is a devout man, he actually prayed for this. It is not of import, Dean. You saw my true form. Only special people can," Castiel replies in awe.

Dean feels really uncomfortable. "I'm not special, Cas."

"It seems, Dean that you are. Perceiving my true form would scald your eyes out of your sockets."

Dean remembers what happened to the demons and is really glad it didn't happen to him. Why didn't it though? There is nothing special about him after all. He is doomed to hell.

"That's a little harsh don't you think?"

"It is the way that I was created. It is not supposed to exist on this realm," Castiel says. "I am very pleased that you can see it." Castiel doesn't sound that surprised. Like he has expected for Dean to be one of those chosen people.

Dean has nothing more to say so he goes on back watching Doctor Piccolo and Doctor Sexy making out. Castiel stares at the tv confused and nothing more is mention on the subject.

They manage to run into the demons the next day. It is almost literal but not enough to make a joke out of it. Dean had just gone to the diner down the street to pick up some food. Castiel doesn't eat no matter how much Dean tries to get him and so he went alone because there is nothing weirder than a man in a trench coat watching him eat. Castiel seems fascinated with Dean eating.

He is full and happier then he has been for a while. He heads back to the Impala, whistling Kashmir under his breath, badly of course. He doesn't sense the demons until he is being pushed back onto his own car with a knife pressed against his back.

"Looking for us?" the demon demands. His breath his hot against his neck. It makes him shudder. The demon is strong. Dean has the words of an exorcism messed up in his head but he can never get the Latin right. He really doesn't have much of a chance.

He can hear other demons stalking about around him. He can't turn around without being stabbed so he doesn't. There are at least six, maybe seven and Dean really is fucked this time. And it is a bloody car park. It is in public. The diner is about twelve feet from where he is standing and it is packed at this time of the day. Can nobody see him?

The demon spins him around and he realises that it is the guy that had been sitting in the booth next to him in the diner. His pregnant girlfriend is next to him and so is their kid. All possessed by demons and all of them Dean might have to kill to get out of there alive. There are people inside them, he thinks spitefully. They don't deserve this.

The man has the knife pressed to his neck. It is hard enough to make him bleed but he isn't slitting his throat. Whatever the demons motives are, it involves Dean being alive at least. He doesn't really want to be captured by demons.

"What do you want, you sons of bitches?" Dean shouts. He has never been known for tact in a difficult situation.

"You," the female mutters. Dean can see the bloody waitress moving in closer. Oh man, he bets his food was spat in or worse. It is the last time that he comes to this place that is for sure.

"Well, I do have great nipples but I don't think so sweet cheeks," Dean retorts only that is his bravado and in his head he has a constant litany of "Demons, Cas. This would be a perfect time for an angelic assist." He adds a please because he is desperate and certain that Castiel cannot hear inside his head. The motel is over a mile away after all.

"What makes you think that we won't skin you alive right here?" one of the demons asks. It is a grandma. Dean is just weirded out.

"You won't touch a hair on that man's head," a voice says and of course, typically Castiel is there. He looks full of righteous smiting. The demons actually look afraid. Dean would be too.

Castiel doesn't give them a second chance. He is muttering in Encochian so quickly that the demons don't have time to react. Smoke is pouring out of their mouths and they are on the floor. Just like that and Dean is determined to never go anywhere on his own again. He likes having Smitey McSmiter on his team. It makes difficult demon exorcism so much easier.

He wipes off the blood but doesn't ask Castiel to heal him because even though the angel is stronger than Dean could possibly imagine, he cannot heal. When he first discovered this, he was so disappointed that Dean actually wanted to hug him. It is to be expected but Dean doesn't comment on it. They get a lot better when Dean doesn't comment.

"Thanks for the help," Dean replies. He checks the people on the floor. They are all okay. No obvious signs of wounds. At least physically they will make it through this. "How did you know to come and find me?"

"Dean, you pray really loudly. I was unable to not hear you," Castiel replies. He doesn't look at the people around him. One of them runs straight passed him. Another one actually tries to thank him which is worse. Dean just smiles because he is happy that he is alive but there is one issue.

"Dude, I was so not praying."

Castiel doesn't reply. He waits for Dean to finish helping the pregnant woman to her feet whilst her boyfriend deals with their child and then climbs into the front seat of the Impala. By the time that Dean climbs in himself, Castiel is asleep. That isn't right.

Dean places Castiel on one of the motel beds. They should really get out as quickly as they can. People are going to ask questions about what happened and Dean's got a criminal record so long there is no way he won't be in trouble. Castiel still hasn't understood the fairly basic principle of lying. Dealing with the cops isn't on the menu for today but he looks at Castiel and doesn't think that he can move him. The angel isn't hurt like last time. It is just like he has wasted his batteries. The exorcism hadn't been that taxing. He wonders how long Cas can keep this up before he ends up getting himself killed. Dean's never really thought about the long run before but he thinks that now it is a good time to start.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N**: Plot? What plot? The story hasn't told me what happens next so this happened. SMUT! PWP and you know boys kissing and stuff. I'm not exactly brilliant at writing this stuff but I have certainly tried to do it. If you don't like that sort of thing, don't read it! I swear there will be plot in the next one. I think :D

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><p>It's been six months. Dean doesn't think his brother is in the US anymore because he is fairly certain that he has covered every single inch of it. He has killed so many demons, hunted everything that he can find that would give him a possible lead that he thinks that he deserves at least a month off. Or maybe a year. He is just so tired of it all. He wants it to be over and the same time he doesn't want to find his brother.<p>

Castiel is with him throughout it all. Hunting separately stopped becoming an option and becomes more of a necessity. The demons only come in groups now, large enough that even Dean isn't stupid to go after them on his own. Castiel still collapses after every single hunt, whether or not he has used any of his angel mojo. Both he and Castiel don't mention that it seems to be something more going on there then the angel's diminishing powers.

Castiel does a lot of human things now because Dean does. He doesn't take off that damn trench coat but sometimes when the hunts need it, he will change out of the suit and look like a normal person for once, or as normal as he will ever get to looking. He eats sometimes even though he doesn't exactly need to but it is the only way that it doesn't look weird in diners and eating just gives Castiel an excuse to stare at Dean. He drinks beer with Dean too but he doesn't like bars and he doesn't like the women. He stares at any woman who flirts with Dean like a possessive lover and though Dean is getting annoyed that he hasn't got laid since he met Castiel, he kinda loves that look. It is hot in all sorts of ways and Dean soon forgets about the women.

They have practically been living together for the last four months. Castiel doesn't sleep but he doesn't leave the motel room when Dean is sleeping either. They spent most of their time together on hunts because Dean doesn't really trust Castiel to lie once and a while to get where they need to go. He will be happy when Castiel places his fake FBI badge the right way around. They go to diners together and they go to bars together. Dean doesn't really think about this much until one day when he arrives at Bobby's because Bobby has some information for them and he makes some casual comment that Castiel is attached to his hip. It is then that Dean realises and the only thing that really hits him is that he doesn't really mind.

Castiel winds him up that is for sure and Castiel gets pissed off at him at least once a day to the point that Dean thinks that he is just going to walk out the door and leave. Castiel doesn't understand Dean's humour, or humour in general, he understands no pop culture references and for the most part acts like a total dick. Dean isn't used to sharing a room with anyone. Even though he has done it his whole life, the last couple of years without Sam and without dad meant that he was kinda used to doing his own thing. No matter how much Castiel annoys him and how much they don't really get along with each other most of the time, Dean likes having him around. Dean just likes him.

They have just finished a hunt. Castiel is lying on his back on the motel bed. They stopped getting two beds a long time ago because Castiel doesn't really sleep and he is only unconscious for a couple of hours after a hunt so most of the time, Dean will sit up and watch tv whilst waiting for Castiel to be alive to the world again. It works well and it saves them a lot of money on getting a two bed room. They don't mention how they are practically sharing a bed because that would just be awkward. They never sleep in it at the same time and that is what counts.

Only tonight Dean is really exhausted. He has to carry Castiel to the car and then from the car to the motel and he doesn't think he will be able to make it. He thinks about just leaving him there but he doesn't think he can do it because Castiel will definitely smite him in his sleep. He is covered in grave dirt. It had only been a spirit but a fucking pissed off one and Dean had been thrown against something so hard, he thought that he had broken his back. He was find apart from a whole boat load of bruises that would show up the next morning. He just wants to get some sleep. Only they have the one bed.

Dean manages with perhaps inhuman strength to get Castiel to their motel room. Luckily they had got one or the ground floor or he may have reconsidered the whole leaving Cas thing. He supposes that it must look suspicious for him to carry him but no one has mentioned anything yet. Castiel probably looks drunk more than someone Dean has drugged and dragged with him. At least the trench coat is useful to something.

Dean drops Castiel onto the bed with a little bit more force than necessary. He is just so tired he doesn't think he cares. He usually goes through the routine of taking Cas's coat and shoes off and if the night is hot, his jacket and shirt too. He doesn't know if Castiel even feels the weather but Dean is thinks he might as well be nice. Tonight though, he has no energy for that sort of thing and he is cursing Castiel for the hundredth time for passing out on the job. Most of the time, he manages to wait until the exorcism is over before he collapses. Sometimes he doesn't. It really scares Dean when that happens.

He just wants sleep. He knows he should shower because he smells like decaying bodies and the warm water will feel nice against his aching skin but he thinks if he has to spend another moment standing up he is going to collapse. He looks around the motel room. It is one of the worse that they have stayed in with the fact that there are no other seats available. Sometimes there is a couch or lounge chairs or something that he could crash in but not today, typically. He is just so tired and his brain isn't working so he just takes off his shoes and jacket and collapses into the bed next to Castiel.

He wakes up about midday. He feels a lot better even if he still stinks. He almost forgets where exactly he fell asleep last night only the angel that he had fallen asleep next to is still in bed with him. Castiel must have woken up sometime during the night because he is not wearing his shoes, coat, jacket or tie. He is also pressed against Dean's side, his head resting against Dean's chest. It is definitely cuddling and Dean is confused. He is only just woken up and his brain doesn't have the function without alcohol to understand the images.

Castiel stirs awake. It is probably the first time he has been properly asleep and he looks really disoriented. He doesn't move from Dean's chest though.

"Good morning," Dean says in a matter of fact, fake cheery voice. Castiel still doesn't move.

"Good morning, Dean," Castiel replies. One of his hands his tracing over Dean's chest. Dean thinks he needs to have _another_ conversation with Cas about personal space but not now because this feels nice. He hasn't been close to anyone for so long that he doesn't want to push Castiel away and since their kiss, he has be sort of waiting for a moment like this.

He isn't going to spoil it by speaking. He places on of his hands in Castiel's hair. He has spent enough time carrying an unconscious Castiel around that he has had his hands on his body before but they never really touch when they are awake. Sure, Dean's hand will brush against Castiel's when they are researching or they will sit, knees pressed against each other in diner's but they don't touch. It is crossing a line that neither of them wants to be the first one to attempt. They are so dependent on each other now. They are completely alone without the other. They don't want to risk losing this.

Castiel is the braver one of the two of them. He surges up and kisses Dean on the lips. It doesn't taste like it did before when Castiel was all power and thrumming with energy. Now it tastes a little more human and a little less overwhelming. Castiel is unsure of himself. He doesn't know where he should place his hands. It is awkward for a moment when Castiel's nose is pressed almost painfully against his own until Dean tilts his head and licks his way into Castiel's mouth.

Dean's never really kissed anyone like this. He has never kissed a guy before but that really isn't the point. He has never kissed someone thinking that he would never want to kiss anyone again in his life. Everything sparks inside him like he is being lit up. His brain sparks and shuts down. He cannot think about anything but just carrying on kissing him. He doesn't think he can stop. He could do this forever.

Castiel moans against his mouth and Dean is feeling light-headed and he has forgotten that he needs to breathe. He pulls away from Castiel slightly and takes a huge lungful of breath before he takes Castiel's mouth back in his. He hasn't known joy quite like it and he has done a lot of amazing stuff in his life as well all the bad stuff. Kissing Castiel is like every fourth of July, every saved family and every time he ever made Sam so happy. It is incredible and yet somehow brings him a sort of peace like everything is going to be okay even though he knows that everything he going to shit.

He doesn't know how long they kiss for. It must be hours because when he pulls away for what seems to be the hundredth time, Castiel is looking debauched. His mouth is red and bruised. His hair is such a mess and his shirt is opened. They haven't moved further than kissing though. Dean might be hard, harder than he had been in his whole life but he is sure if he can just keeping kissing Castiel then he never has to deal with his throbbing erection.

"Dean," Castiel pants against his cheek. They are sitting on the bed, Castiel on Dean's lap with his legs wrapped around him. He is so into Cas that it shouldn't be right but when he is kissing Castiel, he doesn't think anything could be wrong ever again.

"What do you need, Cas?" Dean manages to get out. He is surprised that he is still speaking.

"You."

Dean groans to the way that Castiel's voice sounds. The angel is a complete mess. He is usually so composed and kept together and now Dean has reduced him into this state. He feels proud of himself that he is able to do it. Though now it is time to move this show on the road.

"You done anything like this before, Cas," he mutters into the angel's ear, biting gentle on the lobe.

Castiel cannot reply, he just shakes his head. Shit, Dean thinks. The angel is a virgin. He suspected that there might be something but to have it confirmed makes Dean hot in ways. He is the first person to ever touch the angel like this. A wave of possessiveness washing over him. He wants to be the only person whoever touches Cas like this. Only this might be moving a little bit fast for him.

"Dean," Castiel moans again and he shifts his hips so he is grinding against Dean's lap. Even through their clothes, it is perfect and suddenly Dean is going from happy if he never comes again, to having to come in the next five minutes or he is going to explode.

He pushes Cas back down onto the bed. Cas might be a virgin but Dean isn't exactly an expert on gay sex and he doesn't really know what he is doing either. He knows how this works with guys. He knows exactly what he should do now but this is Cas. Not only is he male, or at least in a male vessel but Dean wants this to be special. He wants Cas to remember this forever and never want anyone else. He feels under a lot of pressure and he isn't sure that he will be able to perform.

He presses himself against Castiel's body, careful not to place all of his weight on him even though he knows that the angel would be able to take it. He kisses Castiel hotly. It is what he is comfortable with and once again Cas is prepared to take steps that he isn't. Castiel's hands have worked their way between their bodies and before Dean is even really aware, Castiel is naked and his jeans and underwear have been shoved around his ankles.

"Dean." It is the only word that Cas can say. He doesn't seem capable of anything else. Castiel might have been able to get them naked but he doesn't know what is supposed to happen now. Dean knows a lot of things that he could happen but he doesn't know what should.

He wraps one of his hands experimentally around Cas's cock. He's never done it to another guy before but he has done it plenty of times to himself that he thinks that he can work out the mechanics. It isn't the most elegant way to go about this but the moment Cas moans against him, Dean doesn't really care. Castiel thrusts into his hand hard, demanding more and Dean has to hold him still before he hurts one of them. Castiel wants this so bad. His eyes are wide and desperate. Dean wants to give him everything.

He kisses Castiel one more time before knowing what he wants to do. He moves down Castiel's body, trailing kisses on his neck and chest. He bites lightly and sucks deeply. Cas will have marks for days that they will struggle to cover up but Dean doesn't care. He wants everyone to see. Castiel is his.

He moves against Castiel chest. He isn't made of muscles like Dean expects someone with so much power to have but he isn't weedy either. Dean decides that he likes Castiel's chest. He licks over both of Castiel's nipples on a long shot and Castiel moans above him and demands more with a soft mutter of his name. Castiel speaks it so prettily that he cannot help but oblige him.

He kisses down Cas's happy trial and then he is face with Castiel's cock. Castiel is so hard that Dean whimpers in sympathy. Dean takes a deep breath and then licks against Castiel's cock. The angel's hips arch so high off the bed that Dean has to move from where he is sitting. He moans in a way that actually makes the windows shudder in the glass. Dean hopes he doesn't shatter the windows. He doesn't want to have to explain that one.

He hold Cas down. What he wants to do, he needs control otherwise he will choke and though he has some weird fetishes sometimes, there is still those satin panties in his mind, he isn't into auto-erotic asphyxiation. Cas obliges with him and Dean licks him again. He runs his tongue against the head and over Cas's precome. He doesn't find the taste as offensive as he first thought and he continues licking until he hears his name being muttered again and he takes Castiel's cock into his mouth.

It is hot and heavy and just huge. He can barely take most of it in and so he has to wrap his hand around the hilt to make up for it. He has been blown countless times in the past but he has never given one. He tries to remember what feels good and what doesn't. Castiel doesn't seem to mind what he does as long as he is closer to orgasm.

Castiel shudders underneath him as Dean works him. Dean is so hard just from listening to him, he takes his free hand and wraps it around himself and starts jerking himself to the same stunted pace that he is jerking Cas. He doesn't think he is going to last very long. Cas has given up trying to speak altogether and instead making these noises that are just criminal. The walls are actually shaking and Dean doesn't care.

It doesn't take long but Cas is coming down his throat. Dean only manages to swallow part of it and the rest dribbles down his chin. Castiel's hands thread through Dean's hand and pulls so hard it is painful and Dean would worry about a bald patch but he is coming hard. There is a light behind his eyes and everything is just this blur of pleasure sensations like nothing else exists in the world apart from feeling this good. Dean tries to hold onto it for as long as he can but it is slipping away as fast as it come and he is crashing into reality again.

He is boneless and hot. He couldn't move even if he tried. It is like someone removed all of his bones and muscles and replaced them with jelly. He thinks that if his bed was on fire he wouldn't have the strength to move and get away from it. He would be happy to just burn. Castiel wraps his hands around him with that strength that apparently doesn't go even after epic orgasms. Dean barely acknowledges it. His brain is swimming through the streams of the remains of his orgasm. He can barely see Cas let alone protest to after sex cuddling that they seem to be engaging in. Cas kisses him lazily and Dean's last thoughts before he falls asleep, is that he could really get used to this.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **

_Dean_: Where the hell you been?  
><em>Castiel<em>: [_shoots an angry glare at Dean_] On a bender!  
><em>Dean<em>: He's... did you say on a bender?  
><em>Sam<em>: Yea. He's still pretty smashed.  
><em>Castiel<em>: It is not of import.**  
><strong>

That is pretty much how I feel right now. I have learnt an important lessson. "Revision session" for law studuents involves getting drunk at 3pm in the afternoon. 24 hours later and I can still feel the tequila so I apologise right now but I am still a little bit drunk and this chapter is probably not the best that I could do. Enjoy anyway. I thought I would move away from the whole Sam issue for a little bit and focus on another problem that is going on. And bring in another one of my favourite characters.

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><p>If he had given it much thought then Dean would think that there is probably a lot of problems with having sex with Castiel, least of all Castiel is in a male vessel, an occupied vessel and that is a little bit weird. It isn't even the tip of the iceberg which is what Dean does find out.<p>

Sleeping with Castiel spending a lot of time sleeping with Castiel. Castiel doesn't have to sleep but the point is still there. After their first time, there were a lot of other times, again and again and again. Dean isn't really complaining but a whole week passes in the motel room and they little don't leave. Bobby actually calls him on the sixth day to make sure that he is still alive. Everyone thinks that he is going MIA. He cannot help it. Every time he sees Castiel he has to kiss him and of course kissing leads to other things and before he knows it two days have gone. He has no self-restraint and Castiel is worse than he is because apparently angels are created with a recovery time of an eighteen year old whether it is his second or twenty-second orgasm.

To begin with it is so much as a problem because Dean really likes sex. It is when they finally decide to leave the motel and chase after more demons is when it becomes problematic. He cannot see Castiel without wanting him and so driving is nearly impossible. He pulls over more times than when he put extra strong laxatives in Sam's cereal. A simple two hour drive takes six hours. They both know that they should hold back, because man, Dean is actually getting sore from it all, but they can't and it will be the death of them.

The demons find them in the next town and luckily Dean had his pants on but it had been a close thing. He'd found a dark alley and well Castiel had been there and that coat covers up a lot. Dean isn't one for public sex but with Castiel, he is suddenly into everything and anything so he doesn't really care. He just does exactly what Cas wants. The demons seem to find it hilarious. Dean doesn't think so. He is a bit too boneless to fight and the demons use that to their advantage. Luckily, Castiel is strong enough to take down the three demons on his own. Of course, after the demons are gone, Dean is left to deal with an unconscious Castiel.

Dean thinks they will get it out of their system. All couples have that time in the beginning of any relationship where they cannot get enough of each other (Dean ignores that he just called himself and Castiel a couple and that they are in a relationship). Only it doesn't get better. It cannot get worse but it doesn't get better either. Everything changes though.

It starts like always with a murder. Dean goes around some strange town in Idaho trying to discover whether the murder is actually his sort of gig. Castiel trails along with him but he has this constant feeling of uneasy that is setting him on edge. There is something in town that is powerful. More powerful that Cas but Cas doesn't know what it is.

The deceased turns out to be an arsehole. Local college professor that deliberately marked students down because they were female. Arsehole. He had that sort of mind set that was medieval. It probably explains why he had been hung, drawn and quartered. It took two weeks for all of his body parts to be found. The police, as usual are baffled.

It doesn't take Dean long to piece it together. It's been a while since he has seen the son of a bitch and he really wants to give him a taste of his own medicine. It never really works out like that though when dealing with Tricksters.

Castiel has gone out for some food. He has been hanging around with Dean enough to be able to manage a simple task on his own. Or at least that is how Dean justifies sending Castiel to one of his favourite burger bars, which happens to be in Delaware. Castiel doesn't even complain about this. Disappearing and reappearing doesn't wear him down at all. Not like fighting against monsters.

Dean has just done showering. The water had been warm for once and he had taken his time. He has tried to convince Cas to shower with him but the angel doesn't understand the need of it. He can clean himself with his mojo. Dean will show him one day that there are other uses for a shower.

Cas should have been back though and he is a little worried. Delaware is literally on the other side of the country and it will take Dean too long to reach him if he needs to. Dean immediately swears off angelic food trips in the near future.

Dean calls Castiel but the angel doesn't just appear like he usually does and Dean is seriously worried. He might have been a little distracted by this fact because he doesn't notice for a good five minutes that his room has turned into a brothel. There are about eight girls, all in their early twenties in various different types of underwear. The bed is suddenly a huge four poster deal and there is even appropriate lighting a music.

The girls look at him with hungry expression and Dean has to admit that he is interested in them. He might be with Castiel but he certainly isn't dead. He still likes women. He just doesn't go after them anymore because he couldn't do that to Cas. They haven't exactly spoke about being exclusive but he couldn't stand the idea of anyone else being with Castiel so he at least owes Castiel to remain faithful too. That is one of the reasons why he doesn't touch them. It also may have something to do with him not knowing where the hell the girls have come from and why they managed to magic his room to be twice the size it should be. All in all being tempted by these girls is going to leave him in a whole heap of trouble.

"I don't know who you girls are or why you are here but I am not buying what you're selling," Dean declares. The girls don't seem to understand what he is saying and one of them gets closer to him. Enough that she can kiss him but Dean quickly stands out of the way because he doesn't want to kiss her. She isn't an angel in a dirty trench coat. He doesn't care about her.

"I said, I am not interested," he complains. "You can all just leave."

The girls go from seductive to dangerously homicidal looking in about five seconds. Dean has faced all sorts of monsters before but none of them have ever hidden weapons in places these girls are bringing them out of and he doesn't want that sort of imagery ever again in his life thank you very much.

Dean grabs for his weapons but they have all been taken away from him. Whatever is causing this and he thinks he knows what it is, wants for him to be unprepared. He only hopes that there is still a chance for an angel rescue. Sometimes he wonders how he managed to live his long without Cas.

"Don't like my present, Dean?" A voice asked and yeah, Dean knows who it is now. A short man in a Hugh Heffner style coat is walking towards him throughout all of the women. They don't even look at him like they can't see him. They are all just creations of the Trickster's. They only see what they want to see.

"Presents? You call women, presents?" Dean snaps. "Dude, you're a douchebag."

"Presents, Dean. If you leave, right now. Leave this town. I have business here and I don't want it interrupted. You aren't going to find your brother by chasing after me," the Trickster says. He looks at one of the girls affectionately. She is blonde with a great rack. "This one's my favourite but I will give her to you and all of the others if you get outta here."

"I'm not interested in your women," Dean replies. The Trickster looks at him confused.

"You? Not interested in women?" The Trickster snots. "What has got you tied down?" The Trickster ignores the girls and walks straight up to him and bloody sniffs. Dean's just had a shower. That is kinda offensive.

"Dude, that's just weird," Dean remarks but a sudden realisation comes over the Trickster's face and he looks pissed off. Dean doesn't understand. If the Trickster knows about Cas, they are fucked. With a flick of the Trickster's hand, Dean is slammed into a wall. It hurts. Like it really, really hurts and Dean blacks out.

He wakes up and the room is back to normal again. He has a throbbing headache but he is feeling okay. Dean curses the Trickster with all of the swearwords that he can think of but Castiel is there worried about him and Dean doesn't have to think twice. He just surges up and kisses Castiel on the lips.

"Well, thank you honey," Castiel replies with a smile. He doesn't sound like Castiel but he does. It is weird. Cas isn't wearing his trench coat and suit but a zeppelin t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans. "I told you that taking that ghost on by yourself was going to be a problem but you never listen to me."

"Ghost? I was after the Trickster…."

"No. You've been trailing the ghost of Rosie. The girl who got killed in that bar downtown?" Castiel mutters and Dean realises, yeah, that was what he had been doing. Maybe he has hurt his head too much.

"Yeah, Rosie. Right," Dean replies. Castiel checks his head. He doesn't look too concerned.

"Stay in bed for the rest of the day and I will look after you," Castiel says.

Castiel leaves the room and Dean is left on his own. He realises that the room they are in isn't the motel. It is just a normal room. The bed is really comfortable and he really likes the room. It is decorated in a lot of woods and earth tones. It is the sort of place he could imagine living in. There is a picture of him and Castiel on the bedside table. This confuses him a little. Castiel is smiling widely. He doesn't remember it being taken but then he had hit is head quite hard.

Castiel comes back a little while later with food. It is just a sandwich but it is definitely homemade. Castiel made him a sandwich? He didn't think that angels understood sandwiches. Castiel never seems interested in human food unless Dean is eating it.

"A sandwich?" Dean asks.

Castiel looks confused and checks Dean's eyes. "Yeah a sandwich, moron. I wasn't exactly going to rustle up a four star meal. It would be inadvisable in your condition." The combination of Castiel speak and Dean speak in that sentence just made his head hurt more.

"I think I may have hit my head harder than I thought. I am sorry but this doesn't make sense," Dean explains.

"What doesn't make sense?"

"This whole thing. The room and your clothes. Where is the trench coat and the motels and the bad diner food?"

Castiel tilts his head. It is such a Castiel thing to do that Dean wants to laugh. "I believe you may have to see a doctor. You might have amnesia. Have you forgotten the last five years?"

"Five years?" Dean asks.

"Yes, Dean," Castiel says in his "I am trying to be patient but you are acting like the slow kid in the class voice." "After we managed to get Sam's soul back in his body and my grace went, we decided to get a house. Don't you remember?"

"We got Sam's soul back in his body?"

"Yes, he is currently studying and anthropology degree in California. He visits whenever he can," Castiel says unhappily. He checks Dean's temperature with the back on his hand. "I think you need to see a doctor. I cannot tell if anything is wrong."

"Cas, it's okay. I'll just get some sleep and maybe it will be okay," Dean replies. "It was just a nasty bang."

"Okay, Dean," Cas replies but he looks unsure. "If there is anything you have forgotten, I am taking you to the hospital. Eat your sandwich and get some sleep."

Dean does neither of these things. The moment that Castiel is out of the room. He opens the windows wide. The world out there seems real but he knows that it must all be a trick. This isn't his life and this isn't his future.

"Whatever the fuck you have done, I want you to undo it now!" Dean demands.

"Why would you want that?" the Trickster replies, appearing in the room. He is dressed in a badly made suit. It doesn't work well on him. Not like Castiel's suits do.

"This isn't real! I want to go back now you douchebag!" Dean demands.

"This could be real. This could be your future but you know there is a lot bigger issues than the one with your brother. Sam isn't really a concern to the angels. They are going to flick him off the planet like the insignificant prick that he is. Then they are going to start flicking us. You are fighting the wrong battle, Deano. This world can only work if you get out of my way and let me do what I am supposed to."

"Killing dicks.?"

"Not dicks. There is a plan, Dean and I am not some evil villain that you are going to trick me into revealing. I am the trickster here. I am the one who makes up the games and you will have to stay in this one until I can finish what I have to do."

Then the trickster is gone. Dean curses loudly. Castiel immediately enters the room. Through the goddamn door and Dean has to pretend that everything is alright.

He is the fake world for two days before he wants to pull his hair out. He and Castiel have jobs and evenings in watching the football or a movie. Castiel gets all his references now and even makes some that Dean doesn't know. It has only been five years so he hasn't lost his angelness completely but he is entirely human. Dean doesn't like the way that he has changed. He is a little more cynical. He gets angrier easier. He isn't the Castiel than Dean knows.

He cannot bring himself to call Sam so he doesn't. Castiel assures him that Sam is busy with his work and that he will call later on in the week. Dean doesn't know how he could deal with hearing his brother's voice after so long of having to hunt him.

He likes his job. He works fixing cars for a man who is nice. He is respected in his job and many of their clients come to the garage asking him in particular. Everyone seems to know him and want to chat. They always ask about Castiel and how he is doing. Dean cannot imagine himself in a place where he is so open about everything. They know about all the small details of his life and after spending so long having to lie to everyone about everything, it is refreshing and terrifying.

He knows that he and Castiel are happy. He wishes that he could enjoy it. It feels real but he knows that it isn't. He has to find a way to get out but there is no sign of the Trickster. Dean carries a steak under his jacket at all times just in case though. He wants to make sure the son of bitch is dead this time.

"Dean, are you listening to me?" Castiel asks. He doesn't sound angry. He is anxious in case Dean is still hurt. "Perhaps you shouldn't have gone to work so soon."

"No, Cas. I am fine. What were you saying?" Dean looks away from the window. It isn't like the Trickster would be as stupid as to just walk by but he can hope because there is nothing else to do but wait for him to make a mistake.

"I was wondering about setting a date."

Dean almost doesn't dare ask. "A date for what?"

"Are you sure you don't want to go to hospital? Our wedding, you dumb bat."

The bottom drops out of Dean's stomach. Not because he doesn't want to get married to Castiel. He knows it is too early to be considering those sorts of things anyway. It is the realisation that it is such a long shot that he would ever have this life with Cas. This isn't going to be their life. He doesn't deserve to be this happy.

He is just finishing up an old Mustang that had been brought in for servicing when he hears a set of footprints above him. The person has not announced their presence in the room and Dean is suspicious because he is the only person who has to be in the garage right now. He grips the wooden stake tightly.

"Dean," a voice says. It's Cas. Dean knows the voice immediately and he relaxes. Cas should be at work though. It wouldn't stop him from coming by for a quickie as he has found out. It turns out that living together for five years hasn't dampened their sex lives. Dean doesn't want to sleep with fake Cas but he is so much like real Cas that Dean really cannot resist him.

"Cas," he replies. He turns around and faces him. He is wearing the trench coat which is unusual for fake Cas but then he could be role playing. That is something that they are apparently into.

"What are you doing here?" Castiel looks confused like why should Dean be at work and he wonders if there is something that he hasn't realised he has forgotten.

"I am working."

"You are trapped in the allusion," Castiel responds. Dean realises that this is his Cas. It isn't fake Cas even though it is almost impossible to tell the difference just by looking but Dean can feel it. This Cas feels real.

"I thought you were fake you! It doesn't matter," he adds quickly when Cas's eyebrows tilt up. "Get me out of here."

Castiel blinks and then is gone. Dean hasn't gone with him. Another man appears out of nowhere. He doesn't look happy.

"Mr Trickster doesn't like pretty boy angels," the man says and then he too is gone. Dean growls in frustration. Whatever it is, it has now got Cas. Dean is more determined than ever to rip the Trickster apart. He will make sure he will pay for everything he does to hurt Castiel.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** To make up for yesterday's post, this one is really angsty. Or at least I tried to make it angsty. There will be more Sam in the post and it will continue from there.

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><p>Trying to find the Trickster in the world that he created becomes impossible. Every day, memories of the last five years start filtering into his brain slowly. They become his memories. It isn't real like everything else around here but it certainly feels like it. Dean wakes up one morning and it takes him a good five minutes to remember that this isn't his life. Castiel is still an angel, his brother is evil and he isn't a mechanic. It is starting to get harder and harder to work out what is the illusions and what isn't.<p>

He doesn't do anything drastic. For a long time he thinks that he might as well keep this lifestyle up because that is what the Trickster wants to teach him. It doesn't get him anywhere. Castiel is perfect to him. They still fight like dogs and have sex like rabbits but Dean cannot help but feel a little bit of emptiness whenever he looks into this Castiel's eyes because he knows that he isn't real. He knows that he doesn't love this Cas, - does he love his own Cas? He cannot live this lie like this anymore.

It starts all over dinner. It has been weeks or maybe months of being trapped here and Dean isn't sure he can take it anymore. Every day he wants this life a little bit more. Sam calls him every couple of days and they just chat. Castiel looks at him like he is his world and Dean. He wants to stay here forever and he knows that is why he has to leave as soon as possible.

He comes home from the garage at six. He does it every day unless there is a job that he has to do overnight and he stays a little bit later and Castiel completely understands. When he comes home, most of the time Castiel will be cooking. It is one of his hobbies now. He loves cooking for Dean particularly but many nights they are not alone. They have neighbours and friends over. Dean likes them all but on this particular night it is just him and Castiel. He leaves work and comes home and the smell of Castiel making burgers. Castiel makes the best burgers that he has ever tasted. He doesn't make them all the time because he is worried about Dean's cholesterol level or some rubbish like that.

He calls out to Cas as he enters the room. Cas replies with a "honey, I am in here." Dean follows to where Castiel is slicing fresh lettuce with a practice hand. Dean tries to remember Castiel using a knife to kill demons but he can't. It is five years ago now in his memories rather than a couple of weeks. He cannot deal with this anymore. He draws the shotgun from where he is hiding it under the dinning-room cabinet.

He points it at Castiel, his hand is shaking. It is still Cas even though it isn't and it feels so wrong. "Take me home," Dean demands. Castiel looks confused and sad but he doesn't look scared. He trusts Dean too much not to shoot him in the face. Dean doesn't trust himself right now.

"Dean, this is your home," Castiel says. He tone is calm and steady. His eyes, not is voice betraying what he is really feeling.

"No, this is just a trick. You're not real." Dean shudders. God, right now it seems so real. The memories are all mixed up in his head. It is still Cas. His Cas. Maybe, just maybe he can make this okay. God, what is he doing. He lowers the gun to the ground but he doesn't let go of it.

"What trick, Dean? I am real. You know that," Castiel replies. He takes a step closer to Dean. Dean shudders. He thinks back to all the times that he and Castiel spent together or didn't as it maybe. It isn't real but it feels so real Dean is almost happy to make do. He could live here. He could stay here. The Trickster isn't even going to kill him and he doesn't know for sure that he would hurt Cas. He could stay here. It would become real. It doesn't matter.

"Please, Cas," he manages. He can't do this. He can't. This world. It's so real. He wants to stay he really does. But it isn't his world.

"Dean, it's okay," Castiel takes two more steps forward and that is three steps too close. There is a bang. Castiel hits the floor in a second. All angel mojo gone, he is just human and he will die like one. There is blood sprayed out across the wall. It definitely looks real. Dean drops the gun, unable to keep hold of it. He falls to his knees. The kitchen tiles are cold and hard underneath him. It is all real. Maybe this isn't a trick anymore. He has just killed Castiel. God, Cas.

Dean crawls over to where Castiel is lying. He doesn't trust his legs. Castiel's eyes are open in shock. He is still alive but just. There is blood pouring out of his mouth. Dean grabs hold of him and cradles him.

"Dean, how could you?" Castiel breaths out. Each word is painful but he means it. The look of hurt and betrayal that flickers over his face almost kills Dean. Then Cas groans in pain and it is the last sound that would ever leave his lips.

Dean hopes that the fake reality will fade away. The Trickster, if he is really there will come. Castiel will be alright. He will still be an angel. He is not the body that he is holding. Seconds, minutes, hours pass. Dean is still lying on the floor. He cannot let Castiel go. His body is getting cold. Dean still cannot let go. There is nothing anymore. There is no world outside. There is just him and Castiel.

It takes two days. Dean must have fallen asleep. He must have moved at some point because he still has a bladder even if he murdered the one person who loved him without ever asking for anything else in return. He doesn't eat though. He can barely breathe. He just wants it all to go away.

Then Castiel is just there. He is in his arms but he is standing next to him with a confused head tilt. He is wearing his trench coat just like the angel. Dean can barely remember him like that anymore. Dean starts crying. He knows big boys aren't supposed to cry but it just happens. He just wants it to be true. He wants Cas to be okay. He'll do anything.

"Dean," Cas asks. His voice is gravelly and deep. He has cuts across his face like someone has hit him hard. Dean has tried that. Somewhere in the depths of his memories it is there. He has tried it a couple of times before Cas became human and it is like hitting a brick wall. If he is the angel, why is he hurt?

"Cas." He is cautious. Is this Cas? Or is it his mind playing more tricks on him. It looks like Cas but then so does the body in his arms. He doesn't trust his own eyes anymore. Once upon a time, he relied on physical proof more than anything.

"I escaped," Castiel starts. He looks a little worn out.

"The Trickster?" Dean asks. The words sound foreign on his tongue. Wrong. Everything is wrong.

"If he is a Trickster. He is much too powerful," Castiel replies. Then suddenly without warning Castiel is thrown against the wall like he is just trash that can be thrown away. Dean stands up suddenly, an overwhelming urge to protect his Cas.

Before he manages to even reach Cas, someone comes through his kitchen door. It is the Trickster. It seems years ago and it seems like weeks ago since he has last seen him and Dean wants to hurt him more than anything.

"Hello kids," the Trickster says. He seems overly cheerful. Dean really wants to wipe that grin off his face. The Trickster looks at the dead Cas on the floor and his face falls. He looks to the other Cas, who is struggling to his feet. "Hey Castiel. It seems like your boyfriend doesn't love you after all."

"What are you doing, Gabriel?" Castiel asks. Gabriel? Dean thinks. Like the archangel.

"I was teaching this mutton head a lesson. One, he doesn't seem capable of learning," The Trickster – Gabriel, walks over to where the body is on the floor. He looks like he is grieving. "I don't like to see my brothers getting hurt." The body disappears in a shimmer. The blood is still there though and Dean is still covered in it. His brain is still trying to process. Brothers?

"You should not be playing this games," Castiel walks right up to Gabriel. He is trying to be intimidating. Castiel suddenly looks like the mouse trying to face up against the lion. The Trickster is thrumming with energy the way that Castiel never does. If it comes down to a downright fight, Castiel will lose. Dean doesn't think he could see Castiel die again. "Dean is not something that you should be playing with."

"I just wanted him out of the way," The Trickster replies. "I was going to put him back. Eventually."

"You don't understand. Dean. Is. Mine. He is not yours to play with," Castiel replies. He looks hot with anger. The Trickster isn't intimidated but he understands.

"I don't understand why you like this loser. You don't belong here."

"Where do I belong? Up in heaven? What about you?" Castiel asks.

The Trickster looks hurt and doesn't reply. He pulls a chocolate bar out of his pocket and starts to eat it. "The world is going to be destroyed, Cassie. You don't want to be here when it comes crashing down. Perhaps you would be better back up in heaven. I don't want to see you hurt."

"I made my choice."

"Have you made the right one?" The Trickster rebuts.

Then Dean wakes up before he can hear Castiel's reply. He is lying on a bed in a motel room. He is back in a time when he is supposed to be in. Sam is still evil and Castiel is an angel. Dean isn't covered in Castiel's blood but he can still feel it. Castiel isn't around. Dean needs a strong drink.

He drives to Bobby's. He needs something to ground him after what happens. He needs someone that he knows. He doesn't tell Bobby what happens because he isn't comfortable talking about his feeling or his relationship with Cas. He just needs a strong drink and somewhere to crash while he clears his head.

Castiel turns up as he is driving. Dean doesn't even flinch when the angel is suddenly there. "Gabriel has agreed to leave you alone," he starts without saying the customary "hello and goodbye." Dean knows that he will learn. He has seen it happen.

"That son of a bitch needs to be staked. Who is he?" Dean asks. "I thought he was a Trickster."

"He is Gabriel, the archangel. He has rebelled against heaven. He has agreed to leave you alone as long as I assist him on his quest."

"His quest? Is he going after the Holy Grail or something?" Dean asks, bitterly.

"He is attempting to stop the other angels from destroying the planet. I believe, however, that he has underestimated your brother's power and that is where our attention should lie," Castiel explains. "He has agreed to let us have time in attempting to stop your brother."

"Thanks nice of him," Dean says sarcastically.

"You seem upset," Castiel says with the head tilt. It might be the middle of the night in some deserted highway but Dean cannot help but find it comforting. Castiel is still here after all.

He wants to make a joke. He does. "I kill you, Cas. I knew it was an illusion but it felt so real. It all felt so real and we had a life together. Jobs and a house and everything else."

"Is that what you want?" Castiel asks. He stares directly at Dean like he is seeing straight into his soul.

"I don't know. Maybe one day but it isn't going to happen because it is never going to be over. Whether it is Sam, or demons or angels, we are never going to have the sort of normal life. Is that even what you want?"

Dean turns to Castiel but he is gone.

Dean arrives at Bobby's and Castiel is waiting for him there.

"He just storms in here. The idjit. I nearly shot him full of rock salt," Bobby grumbles as Dean answers the door. He doesn't say hello either. It must not be the custom anymore.

"What is he doing?"

"Cooking."

"Cooking?" Dean heads to the kitchen past Bobby who is still protecting against angels with no manners. Castiel is working in there. He is coatless and jacketless with his shirt sleeves rolled up and his tied tucked in. He is chopping lettuce for burgers. Dean wants to cry.


	11. Chapter 11

Sam is pleased. He doesn't expect it to be this easy but apparently getting his hands on enough holy oil to deep fry and archangel isn't that difficult. Trapping an archangel is even easy because they are stupid. He wonders how feathers smell when they are burning.

The archangel in question stuck in the ring as they speak. The torture hasn't started yet but Sam isn't bored with messing with him yet. This one has spoken to Dean. Sam can smell his brother and that angel all over him and now he wants this angel to hell him exactly what is going on.

"What's your name?" Sam ask annoyed. It isn't that important. Names have power but this angel is going to burn one way or another and Sam doesn't need his name to do that. The only reason he even wants it is because the angel hasn't told him and he has been trying to get t from him for hours so far. No one keeps information from him.

"That's for me to know and for you to never find out," the angel replies. He is dressed in a pair of jeans and a green canvas jacket. He looks like a normal human being. Only Sam can taste the pour even through the rings of holy oil. It is disgusting.

"Don't play games with me," Sam replies. He cannot to step through the fire because he isn't stupid. He might not be an angel but it is still fire. He isn't a demon. He cannot just make himself better if he gets hurt. However, it doesn't mean that he cannot hurt the angel. He turns his one hand through the air and squeezes, imagining he has the angel's stomach in his hands. The angel stumbles in pain, almost hitting the fire as he does so.

"You think that is supposed to be painful?" the angel asks. He spits out a mouthful of blood on the floor. Even angel blood cannot pass through the line of the fire. "The one that makes you evil, his my brother. He is so much more creative than you are."

Sam smiles to himself. "You have no idea. No tell me your name, angel, before I start up the barbeque."

"I am not going to tell you anything," the archangel replies. Sam thinks this is going to be so much fun.

Dean doesn't let Castiel out of his sight from then on. Bobby gets sick of them crashing in his house, (read: Bobby gets sick of walking in on them making out on his couch) and throws them out with the promise of hunts.

Castiel seems a little jittery. He is worried about Gabriel and Dean doesn't know why he wastes such energy on that douchebag. Castiel always replies with something like, "he is my brother." Dean cannot think of anything to say after that.

Dean doesn't tell Castiel much about the life that they lived in the strange world though parts of it seem to be filtering through. Castiel keeps mentioning about getting a house to have a home base. Dean think it is stupid because then they would be easier to find. Castiel makes some offhand comment about the inability to properly ward a motel room as most of their owners would not appreciate him drawing sigils in blood. As a sort of compromise, a month after they had last seen the Trickster, they return back to Lawrence.

Castiel's house is clean. There are no demons. There are no marks at all that there ever were any around. Dean does feel safe in this place and Castiel spends days drawing over the expensive paintings and furniture, all the wards that will keep them safe. Dean finally stops him when he thinks the angel will pass out from blood loss.

With a "home base" for now, Dean wonders how hard it will be to get hunts but it turns out that Lawrence still has more than its fair of demons. Dean has even been passing through the streets and seen anti-possession tattoos on people. There are devil's traps hidden in public places and salt lines on a lot of doorways. The police patrol the streets night and day. They carry holy water as well as guns and each of them know the basic exorcisms.

There are traces of death throughout the city. There isn't a family that hasn't been effected. The schools are empty because their parents are afraid to take them after a massacre. The demon pretended to be the kids' teachers, locked the doors and none of the kids got out of their alive. What really surprises Dean more than the demons attacking in such a concentrated area but they are taking credit for it. Demons usually work in the shadows but they seem to be proud of all the killings. Everything they do, they do it while letting people know that they aren't human. They show their eyes or do something supernatural so that people have no doubts that their friends and neighbours have been taken over.

"It's like they want someone to come and stop them," Dean says. He flicks the tv off and throws the remote onto one of the expensive chairs. Castiel doesn't seem to be listening to him but he replies anyway.

"They want the angels to come and stop them."

Sam doesn't know how the angel is even still alive. If he had been human, he would have suffocated at least. Perhaps breaking each individual rib hadn't been a good idea. Once the angel's lungs had been punctured, he couldn't speak and then it was a little bit hard to question him.

The angel is lying on the floor. He is playing dead at least even though he isn't actually dead. There is a pool of blood around him. It soaks his clothes and his skin. It covers the burns at least from where Sam set the inner circle on fire too without the Holy Oil so he could cook the angel without frying him. The angel doesn't beg because he can't and Sam lets him have this breather to recover. Not because he is a nice person but because he thinks that he will get further otherwise.

He isn't in Lawrence even though he knows that is where his brother and the angel are. He isn't stupid. He knows what the prophets have been saying. His brother is the only one who is going to stop him. So though it seems like cowardice, he makes sure that there are at least a hundred miles between him and his brother. He has seen enough films to know if you go after the person who is destined to kill you to kill them, they end up killing you in the process. He likes to be alive and he likes his plan. He isn't let Dean get in the way of that.

The angel on the other hand is going to fry. He leaves it a couple of hours. Angels can heal themselves of all wounds eventually, apart from the symbols that Sam has carved around the angel's wrists means that the angel heals just a little bit slower. Sam isn't entirely evil, it isn't a human rate but slow enough for the angel to get the message.

When he comes back, the angel lifts himself to his feet. He staggers and warily watches in case he hits the flames. The angel isn't in enough pain that he wants to die yet. The creature is stronger than Sam expected him to be. He spits out another mouthful of blood. "What do you want?"

"Your name," Sam remarks. It has been hours and he still hasn't got that. There aren't even that many archangels out there. Sam is sure that with less effort than it takes to torture him that he could work it out for himself. He doesn't like it that way though. It is about the principle of this.

"I mean of the scheme of things because I don't know what you expect from torturing me," the angel replies. He picks at the skin on his arm. The burnt flesh is black and dead and he scraps it off like it is a layer of dirt and not like it is causing him incredible amounts of pain from doing so. New skin is growing back quickly. It still looks horrible. Sam thinks if he had a soul he would feel sorry for the angel. He doesn't though.

"I believe you met my brother," Sam says. He isn't really relieving his game plan. Every angel knows what is going to happen between him and Dean. Or what is supposed to happen and what he isn't going to let happen.

"Ah, Deano. I don't know what you are worrying about that one. I am sure he couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag," the angel replies. "But what do you need me for? You know where your brother is and you have demons tracking his every move. He can't go for that whiskey that he loves so much without you knowing about it."

"Yeah which is why your little allusion trick irritated me. What did you think you were doing with that?"

"It is for me to know and for you to never find out," the angel repeats his taunt from earlier.

"Oh, I will find out," Sam replies with a grin.

"We have to find Gabriel," Castiel mutters one day. It isn't exactly the right time because Dean has just had one of his best orgasms of the day and he cannot help but think that Castiel was thinking of his brother while they were doing it. And then his mind goes to weird places. People think that he and Sam have a sick relationship.

"What?"

"He is being hurt," Castiel replies. He is already dressed.

"And how do we know that this isn't a trap?" Dean asks. He pulls on his trousers but asking him to do more than that is too much. He has just come after all.

"No one knows that Gabriel is on Earth. Most angels and demons have no idea where he is and most give little thought to him. He disappeared a long time ago. No one would come looking for him."

"Apart from us?"

"Apart from us," Castiel repeats. "He is my brother, Dean. I must do everything that I can to assist him."

Dean groans because he knows that he is about to do everything that Castiel wants.

By the time that Dean is dressed, Castiel is in the kitchen and he is cooking up something that isn't food. There is a huge metal bowl and he is careful placing herbs in while chanting in Encochian. Dean has heard enough of the language to find it complicated. There seems to be no end to the ways that the sounds can string together to make words. Dean decides that it is probably for the best if he doesn't get in Castiel's way. It will only make him irritated and while that might be good for angry sex, it isn't good when he is looking this anxious.

"Gabriel is an archangel. There is not a lot of things that can hurt him," Castiel explains even though Dean doesn't ask. "Whatever it is, it is strong and we have to stop it."

"Why?" Dean asks because obviously he never wants to have sex ever again in his life. He knows from five years of apparent history with Cas, when he is really annoyed with Dean, he had withhold it. Dean doesn't want to try that.

Something flies in his direction. It doesn't hit him which means Castiel doesn't mean for it to hit him. The next one will. Dean can feel the electricity in the room build in a way that means that Castiel is really worked up, more than when he is facing down demons, ghosts or witches. He is really worried about his brother. Dean knows what that is like. He doesn't ask stupid questions ask after that.

Castiel continues to work. Dean watches and is a little bit fascinated. He has never been the one for spell work. Usually he will call Bobby up if he needs something like that. He can make basic hex bags but beyond that the whole art is lost to him. Castiel on the other hand, just does it like it has been seared into his brain. He doesn't have to stop and think even though there are about thirty different ingredients now. If this cannot find Gabriel then he isn't sure what will.

The bowl sets itself on fire for a couple of seconds while Castiel stares into the flames like he is receiving revelation. The flames are bright blue and Cas is a little bit too close to them for Dean's liking but then they are gone and Castiel just looks at the bowl with a blanket expression.

"Sam has him."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** So this is the second to last part of this bit! I think I am going to write a sequel from this that will be a lot more Dean/Cas. What do you guys think? I will put the last post on tomorrow hopefully.

* * *

><p>"So my brother has taken your brother?" Dean asks.<p>

"It may be his first mistake," Castiel says. "I can trace their location. We might be able to find your brother."

Dean's mouth suddenly goes dry. They have been trying to find Sam for so long that it seemed an impossible task. It isn't something that Dean has ever wanted to face because it is Sammy. He doesn't want to hurt him. Castiel is looking at him in determination. They are going to save Cas's brother at the risk of his own. Dean doesn't like where this is heading but he knows that it has been inevitable from the start.

"Where is he?"

"Oregon. It will be faster if we fly," Castiel says. Dean hates flying. It does things to his bowels and he likes his stomach being in the right place. If Sam has Gabriel though, it is only a matter of time before Sam kills him and then moves on. This is the best break that they have ever had and they cannot afford to waste it by trailing across America in his car.

"There is one stop that we have to make first," Dean remarks. Castiel nods but doesn't say anything.

Moments later, they are in the lock up that is the remainder of John Winchester's legacy. There is all sort of stuff here from his and Sam's childhood as well as more weapons, both magical and human than should ever really be gathered in one place. It hadn't been until his dad had died that he had even knew that it exists. Bobby had told him one night over beers and he had immediately headed out this way. Dean doesn't come here often. All the weapons that he needs is in the trunk of his car but something like this needs a special weapon.

"What are you looking for, Dean?" Castiel mutters. The room is filled full of all sort of wards and sigils. Castiel looks at them uneasily making a note, if they ever manage to make it out of this alive, to come back and protect this place properly so that no angel or demon could ever walk in here. After then, he might not be able to walk in himself but it would be better than if other angels could do too. There is still a war up there.

"This," Dean says with a triumphant smile on his face. He pulls a wooden box, no longer than his forearm from one of the dusty shelves. Out of everything, it seems to have been placed here more recently. Dean opens the box and takes out a gun. A simple Colt revolver but there could be nothing simple about this gun. It is so special that even Castiel has heard about it.

"That is the Colt?" Castiel asks. He doesn't even want to touch it. It is the single most powerful guns there are. It can kill almost anything.

"Yeah, my dad found it before he died. He gave it to me to kill the demon that killed him. I never manage to. The demon has been underground for years now," Dean explains. He opens the gun and checks the barrel. "There is still one bullet left."

"For Sam," Castiel says with a breath. "He is not a full demon. A normal gun may work on him."

"I don't want to take that chance," Dean replies. "We need a plan."

"A plan?"

"We can't just zap in there, kill my brother, rescue yours and zap back out of there," Dean sighs.

"That would have been my plan," Castiel says wistfully.

"Not going to work because then Sammy will use whatever he has to trap Gabriel to trap you," Dean explains.

"What if I was the decoy? I distract Sam and you shoot him."

"No." There is no hesitation.

"It is a good idea, Dean."

"No way. What if he kills you?"

"Going in there could kill us both. It is a risk we are going to have to take Dean. So many lives are at risk if we don't," Cas argues and like all the times that Castiel argues with Dean, he takes several steps too close to Dean. In any other time, that sort of moment would turn Dean on but not today because the intense stare in Castiel's eyes unnerves him but in the same way makes him want to do exactly what Castiel wants him to do for once. Usually Castiel listens to him and not the other way around.

The gun is old and cold in his grip. He cannot believe that he is about to kill his brother with this but he knows when the time comes, he cannot hesitate. He has to pull the trigger. If it comes down to it, Cas's life or Sam, he would have to kill Sam.

"Dean, this may be a difficult task to undertake," Castiel starts before Dean interrupts him. Dean can sense the misted empowering speech and coming from Cas who tends to be as blunt as possible, it doesn't sit right with Dean.

"'Difficult?' How about one of the hardest things I have ever had to do," Dean protests. "He is still my brother."

"As I said before, he stopped being your brother a long time ago. He sold his soul. What he is doing now isn't him. The Sam you grew up with wouldn't do this," Castiel says.

"I wish I knew what drove him to this."

Castiel suddenly gets angry. The air fills with electricity. "It wasn't you, Dean. Demons are clever. They are resourceful. They would have done anything to trick your brother into this deal. You are a good brother. A good person. Never doubt that. I love you for exactly who you are. I fell for you and I would do it again."

Dean cannot reply so he just kisses Castiel, lightly on the lips, wishing that he could take it further seeing as they are unlikely to have much time left together.

"Let's do this," Dean says, with fake bravado that Castiel sees straight through but it forces him that he tries.

Castiel presses two fingers to Dean's forehead and then they are gone.

It is an abandoned warehouse. The wind hits them hard, blowing in from the sea. The air is almost salty with the seawater and it is strange that any demon would choose here. It is cold and frigid and the sooner they get out of here the better and to warmer climates like Dean prefers. At least Castiel has that stupid coat.

Castiel is already patrolling the outside. There is a distinct lack of wards around the building that is unnerving him. Gabriel is an archangel and to hold him takes powerful magic. It however explains why it has been so easier for Castiel to track his brother to this place. There is a huge blood sigil on one wall but that is about it and it does nothing to stop Castiel getting inside or getting out again. There has to be something more going on here. Castiel takes out his long angelic blade. It still kills demons as well as it kills angels after all.

Dean follows Castiel. He has a bad feeling about this whole damn thing but he cannot stop Cas, not with the determination that he has in his eyes. It is more than that though. It is hope. Something he has never seen the angel have. They have both been a little bit hopeless recently.

Castiel finds a side door. It isn't even padlocked shut. Dean doesn't expect Sam to have been so stupid. Castiel walks in first. The door closes behind him and for a moment, his heart really hurts like it is going to give up on him. Like Castiel has just been killed. His breaths are coming out in short gasps and he doesn't stop and think. He just pulls open the door and follows Castiel.

Castiel is fine, if not annoyed. The room is dark and he can barely make out Castiel's form but he can feel him. Castiel is agitated and distressed too and Dean wants, no, needs to make sure that he is okay. Dean places one hand on Castiel's shoulder.

"He's here, Dean, he is so hurt," Castiel whispers.

Dean sympathises. It is like Castiel can feel the pain of his brother. Dean wants to make it better but he knows that there are no words that he can say but he knows what he has to do.

His hand runs down Castiel's arm and grabs his hand. It might be silly and it might be girly and it might be stupid as fuck but it is comforting. Dean uses this connection to pull Castiel through the rooms. He seems almost unwilling to move.

They go through corridors and rooms. Everything is dirty and abandoned and for a moment Dean thinks that they must have got the wrong place, only Castiel knows that his brother is here. It is what keeps Dean going. Otherwise, he would have turned back. He doesn't like the place.

Finally, they come to the main room in the warehouse. Unlike all of the others, this is a huge room, about the size of a football field. This one isn't empty either. In the middle is a ring of fire. It's is about 6 feet in diameter and the flames flicker just as high. Dean hasn't seen anything like this but as soon as Castiel does, he gets out of Dean's grip and runs.

Dean approaches and he soon sees the figure of Gabriel lying, broken on the floor. There is something black stretching out of his back. They seem to be his wings but like the rest of him, they are broken and damaged. Castiel stares through the flames, unwilling or unable to go through them.

"Dean, he's alive," Castiel gasps. Dean is surprised because no one should be able to survive that sort of injuries. Torture, Dean adds. He knows enough about it from his time in hell. "Dean, please. Find a way to get rid of the fire."

Dean looks around the room and thank god, or whatever, there is a sprinkler system. Before he can hit the glass, someone else walks into the room. Dean doesn't need to look around to see who it is.

"Dean," the voice says. It sends shivers down Dean's spine. It sounds so familiar and yet it is so wrong at the same time.

"Sam, let Gabriel go," Dean demands. Sam is still a good twenty feet from him. All Dean has to do is pull the gun from out of his coat and shoot him. It would end all of this. He doesn't though because it is still Sam underneath all the layers and he thinks that there has to be some chance of him saving his brother.

"No, Dean. First tell me how you managed to find me and get in here," Sam asks in return. He takes a step closer to where Castiel and Gabriel are and not Dean. He is afraid of Dean. Dean is the one who is going to kill him.

"The whole place is empty. No demons, no wards, nothing. You practically let us in," Dean retorts.

Sam shakes his head. He doesn't look happy. Then Gabriel stutters to his feet. He isn't very strong but he looks very pleased with himself underneath all the cuts and bruises and damage. His wings trail on the ground, broken and destroyed. Even Dean feels sorry for the son of a bitch.

"That would be me, buckos," the Trickster says. His voice sounds like he is spitting out broken glass. Dean wonders if Sam had done this. He feels rage through him. It isn't enough to pull the trigger on his own brother.

"You are not going to stop me," Sam says. "You don't know how hard I had to work for this."

"I think I have some idea," Dean replies. "What made you do it?"

"I don't know. In the end I don't think it matters. I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted a normal life. I suppose I never got that in the end. I suppose I have always been a freak," Sam says. His voice is faking despondency but he doesn't mean it. He can't feel anything.

"This isn't you," Dean replies.

"No, this isn't you. Can't you see yourself? Angels? Really, Dean, what do you think you are doing? You think you can actually have a life with these miserable creatures." Sam lifts his hand and Castiel lifts into the air. Sam has him around the throat and Castiel chokes though he doesn't really need to breathe or perhaps he has become human enough that he has to. "It's male too which surprises me but I suppose if you are going to lower yourself to angels then you might as well go all the way."

Dean grabs the gun now but it is still in his pocket. Castiel isn't struggling, being held in the air by an invisible force. It must be like flying to him.

"Don't hurt him," is all Dean can say.

"Do you know how pathetic you sound? I expected so much more from you. Do you know what I have been doing to you all this time?" Sam asks Dean then turns to Castiel. "Do you?"

"What do you mean?" Castiel manages to ask.

"How do you think I have you so well marked? How do you think I manage to always say one step ahead?" Sam pauses, waiting for them to answer. When none of them do, he continues. "Come on, you must feel it inside you. And you, Dean, you aren't even a good enough hunter to know when one of your own is possessed?"

"Possessed?"

"It was never an ideal option but there was nothing else we could do. There has never been a demon and an angel sharing the same body before but it seemed to work out perfectly. My demon was pushed into the sub-conscious and then when your boyfriend drained himself, the demon took over, knocking the angel out cold and when he is, I get all the juicy information in his head. I thought that you would catch on sooner than that."

"Get it out of him now!" Dean demands. God, he feels, dirty. All this time and Castiel has been riding around with the demon inside him. How much of his actions were provoked by the demon. Was the demon there when he was with Castiel? Does he know what they did when they were alone?

"No, Dean. You are going to have to fight me for it. But, oh no, you can't. This is still your brother. You won't hurt him." Sam throws Castiel against the far wall. It is over sixty feet away from him but he can hear the crash as Castiel breaks through the wall. He would survive through that impact. Just.

Dean finally snaps. He pulls the gun out of his pocket and points it at Sam.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Shortest chapter that I have written I think but it is fitting that this thing ends with thirteen chapters. There is of course going to be a sequel. I will probably get a chapter of it up today if I have finished my coursework by then. Anyway, I hope you like it. This has gone from something funny, written for my friend's birthday and turned really angsty and miserable. Thanks for sticking with this especially supreme dramon, I thought you had given up on me for a while there :D. I hope you have enjoyed it and don't forget to review. It might just get the ball rolling on the next part sooner...

Dean's hands are shaking. He cannot hold the gun steady. He takes deep breaths. Sam can see the gun pointing in his direction. He smirks.

"You can't shoot me, Dean," Sam smiles. He takes one step closer to Dean and then another until the gun is only a couple of inches from his forehead. "You can't do it and do you know why? Because you are weak. You are a coward. You hide behind me and dad and even your angelic boyfriend over there. You can't stand on your own feet because all you are, is a pathetic mess of insecurity and self-sacrifice. But what happens when there is no one else to sacrifice yourself for?"

Dean looks away from Sam though it is hard to because Sam is right up in his face. He can just about make out the body amongst the rubble. Castiel isn't moving. He isn't just getting up like Dean would have expected. He isn't dead but he needs help.

"I'll kill him first. I will make sure it is painful. If you want, I won't even force you to watch but you will be able to hear his screams and they won't stop. He will scream for you and you won't be able to do anything because you are too weak."

Sam steps away from Dean and laughs. He is getting further and further away from Dean but Dean can still see him which means Dean can still shoot him. Dean hears the footsteps, echoing through the empty room. One, two, three, four. Getting further away and closer to Castiel.

Sam doesn't have to touch Castiel to move him but he thinks that there is a kind of art involved when dragging Castiel across the floor of the warehouse. The angel is pathetic. Unconscious from where he hit the wall but he soon wakes up as his body burns against the concrete floor. He doesn't scream which is a shame, Sam thinks. He will be screaming soon though.

Sam drops Castiel by Dean's feet. Dean doesn't move to help his friend, lover, angel, whatever. He just keeps the gun trained on Sam. He is too stunned to move. He cannot and Sam knows it. Sam has him exactly where he wants him.

"Castiel, I always thought that you would be a problem. A threat, a nemesis if you will but you don't even scare me now," Sam snarls. Castiel looks like a small child. He stares up at Sam like he can't believe that one person could be so evil. "And you want to know a little secret, you could have been but Dean makes you weak. Just like he made me weak and now I am strong."

Castiel is lifted into the air once more. Sam twists his hand and then something starts dripping from Castiel. It's his blood. Sam is literally wringing the blood out of him. Cas's body twists in strange ways and he screams. It is painful for Dean to hear. There is an element of his true voice there and it causes what few windows there are to shatter loudly.

"How long do you think I can do this, Dean? How long do you think it will be before your little boyfriend is dead?"

The blood is raining down with a sort of pitter patter. There are puddles forming on the floor. Somewhere, it seems so far away, but Dean can hear Gabriel yelling Sam to stop. There isn't much more that Castiel can take of this. Sam isn't going to stop, unless Dean stops him.

There is a bang and Dean realises that it is from his own gun. The Colt fires in a blast that is aimed directly at Sam's unfeeling heart. Sam is distracted and he doesn't expect this so he doesn't have time to move out of the way. A sort of black cloud over takes him. There are little black sparks and then Sam falls to the floor. He isn't going to get up again.

Castiel falls to the floor faster than Dean can move to catch him. He hits the floor in a bone cracking crunch. Dean is at his side immediately. He'd waited too long. Castiel isn't going to make it through this.

"Get me out of here, you idiot!" Gabriel demands. He isn't well but he is still an archangel. He could fix Castiel. Dean is up in a second. He runs to where the fire alarm switch is and the sprinklers come on. The water mixes with Castiel's blood, coating the floor with red. Dean runs through it, not caring that he is getting soaked through. All he cares right now is making sure that Castiel gets through this.

"You have done well," a voice says behind him. A strange man, balding and in a good suit, is standing next to Castiel. He is speaking directly to Castiel even though Castiel is, again, unconscious. Gabriel walks to the other person.

"Michael," he says like it is a swear word. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Michael looks at Gabriel. "Looking good," he avoids the question. Gabriel gives him a stern look and Michael actually answers. "Castiel fulfilled his mission. He is allowed back to heaven."

"I thought he rebelled," Dean remarks quickly. That what Castiel had told him at least.

"That is what we wanted you to believe. Castiel must have told the lie so many times that he started to believe it himself," Michael replies with a bored tone. He waves his hand and suddenly there is black smoke pummelling out of Castiel's body and then it is gone. With another flicker, Castiel's wounds are healed and he is climbing to his feet.

"Castiel, your mission is complete. It is time to return to heaven," Michael replies. "You are needed."

Castiel looks towards Dean as if he is going to say something, as if he is going to explain to Dean why he had lied so many times to him. Dean given everything to the fucking arsehole! He had killed his own brother for him and it turns out he is still working for those bastards. Dean doesn't want to hear the "I'm sorry"s. He wants to punch Castiel in the face. For all of the good that it will do him.

"Go," he demands. "It isn't like I want you here anyway."

Castiel looks hurts. Really fucking hurt. He is in more pain than with anything that Sam could have done to him. He looks at Dean, searchingly, to see if really meant it and when he found his answer, his expression hardened. Then he is suddenly this expressionless angel. And then he is gone. Gabriel and Micahel too and Dean is alone with the body of his dead brother.

He doesn't think he can breathe anymore.

He takes Sam's body. He drives it across the whole country. He doesn't even remember how seeing as the Impala is far away but he manages it. Stealing cars and avoiding the cops. He thinks though, if he got caught he would confess. He shot his brother after all. Sam is dead and he did it.

He doesn't sleep. He doesn't think he can. Sam might be sleeping but it is one sleep that he is never going to wake up from again. Dean doesn't eat, he doesn't drink and he doesn't think. He just drives back to Lawrence to bury his brother with his parents.

He burns Sam's body. The last thing that he wants is for demons to take it over or for some arsehole to bring him back. It feels so final to watch Sam's body in the flames. He feels like he has failed. He has lost everyone now. There is nothing left for him.

He doesn't speak to anyone. For weeks on end, there is nothing for him. He cannot sleep so he just drives even though he doesn't know where he is going. There is nowhere for him to go now. He just feels empty.

Bobby keeps calling him and Dean keeps ignoring him. Everyone knows about Sam's death. The demons have gone wild and they keep appearing in numbers that no one has ever seen before. There are strange storms and hurricanes across the country. There are droughts in Michigan and floods in Texas. It is almost like the world is ending.

Dean is sure that he is going insane. He is just numb to everything. There is nothing but the pain inside his chest at the loss of Sam. He is nothing without his brother. Sam was right of course. He is weak.

He doesn't think about Castiel. His betrayal hurts him in ways that he couldn't imagine. He had opened his heart to someone he didn't even expect and then Castiel became family. To have him go away, to realise that everything that Castiel had ever said to him was a lie, makes him want to break down again but he can't. There isn't enough room left in his heart to feel it anymore.

He doesn't know how long since Sam's death it happens but Dean ends up in Cicero. He has been driving and driving around Indiana for so long it is like he has been avoiding it. He needs to stop rambling on. He needs somewhere to be with him and he had thought once upon a time he could have had a life with Lisa. He doesn't think that he wants that now but he just needs someone and anyone will do.

He knocks on her front door. She is surprised to see him. This isn't the first time that she has seen him in the years after they had slept together and she had a son that wasn't his but she has never seen him like this. Dean doesn't think anyone has ever seen him like this, so numb and empty.

She hugs him, lets him into her house and hands him a beer. Dean is grateful and he doesn't know what he has done to deserve her kind treatment but he accepts it anyway. It feels like the end to him.


End file.
